Video: What did the pope know about clergy abuse?

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   >>> 7:13. here's ann .

   >>> today the vatican is on the defensive as new questions emerge about pope benedict and what he knew about two priests caught up in a pedophilia scandal years ago. nbc 's stephanie gosk has been covering this story all week. stephanie , good morning.

   >> reporter: good morning, ann . there's a new potentially damaging report in the "new york times " this morning that pope benedict was more closely involved in the mishandling of the pedophile priests in munich in 1980 than the vatican says he was. according to the paper, a memo sent to the pope's office indicated that reverend peter hullerman who been returned to regular pastoral work in munich just days after being transferred from his previous post for psychological treatment. the psychiatrist said hullerman was a danger to children and later convicted for molestation. it is 1 of 2 allegations that have surfaced in the last two weeks implicating the pope in a scandal that is growing bigger and bigger by the day. an adoring crowd of young catholics greeted pope benedict in st. peter's square while allegations about his involvement in the mishandling of a pedophile priest case in wisconsin make headlines around the world. reverend lawrence murphy molested as many as 200 young boys at st. john's school for the deaf from 1950 to 1974 .

   >> he assaulted this child here, this child here.

   >> reporter: arthur was 12 when the abuse began.

   >> his innocence was stolen from him.

   >> reporter: in 1996 , 20 years after murphy was removed from his job, the archbishop of milwaukee wrote to pope benedict , then cardinal joseph ratzinger , asking to re-open a church investigation. he wrote, "i am interested in a healing process from the church to the deaf community ." cardinal ratzinger didn't reply. he wrote back to ratzinger 's deputy. "true scandal in the near future seems very possible." the case was briefly re-opened until reverend murphy wrote to ratzinger pleading for mercy. i am in poor health. i have repented of any of my past transgressions. ratzinger ordered the case be dropped. murphy died later that year. on the wisconsin case, the vatican hit back hard. the official newspaper called the story a clear and despicable attempt to strike at this pope at any cost. ann ?

   >> stephanie gosk, thank you so much this morning.

   >>> we want to get a

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