The former Pope Benedict XVI has been slammed by Catholic historians and members of the clergy for claiming that the sexual revolution of the 1960’s led to the church’s sex abuse scandals.

In an essay in his native Germany the retired pope also blamed the crisis on the disappearance of god from public discourse in the west and what he labelled dangerously liberal theological ideas that emerged after the second Vatican Council in 1965.

He also criticised church laws that gave protection to priests accused of abuse.

Swinging sixties

He wrote the sexual revolution of the 60s deemed paedophilia as “allowed and appropriate” and claimed the introduction of sex education for children and nudity in advertising had prompted a collapse of moral standards.

“Why did paedophilia reach such proportions?” he wrote. “Ultimately, the reason is the absence of God.”

The essay has been described by a church historian as "catastrophically irresponsible" because it conflicts with efforts by his successor Pope Francis to lead the church out of the sex abuse crisis.

Caricature

Villanova University Theologian Massimo Faggioli described the essay as a “caricature” of what has happened in the church in recent decades.

“If a pope emeritus decides to stay silent, it's one thing and can be defended,” he said.

“But speaking and telling a tiny part and a very personal version of the story, it's hard to defend.

“Everything we know in the global history of the Catholic abuse crisis makes Benedict XVI's take published yesterday very thin or worse: a caricature of what happened during in the Catholic Church during the post-Vatican II period - with all its ingenuities and some tragic mistakes.”

"Catastrophically irresponsible"

Church historian Christopher Bellitto questioned if Benedict, who turns 92 next week, was being manipulated by others and said the essay undermined Pope Francis's efforts to clean up the church.

He added: "”It is catastrophically irresponsible, because it creates a counter-narrative to how Francis is trying to move ahead based on the 2019 (sex abuse) summit.

“The essay essentially ignores what we learned there.”

David Gibson, from Fordham University's Centre on Religion and Culture, said: “For a retired pope to try to undo the critical work of a sitting pope and on such a crucial issue seems... bad.”

Additional reporting from IRN