Future pope said 'no' to defrocking

Priest's retention followed church law at the time

The future Pope Benedict XVI, while still a cardinal, refused to defrock an American priest who confessed to molesting numerous children and even served prison time for it, simply because the cleric wouldn't agree to it. The case provides the latest evidence of how changes in church law under Pope John Paul II frustrated and hamstrung US bishops struggling with an abuse crisis.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press in the case of the late Rev Alvin Campbell of Illinois show Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, following church law at the time, turned down a bishop's plea to remove the priest.