Newly revealed church files have indicated that the future Pope Benedict XVI did not defrock a U. S. priest who acknowledged molesting up to 200 deaf boys in Milwaukee.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and other top Vatican officials let the Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy continue to work around boys, even though U. S. bishops repeatedly warned them that failure to take action could embarrass the church, church files brought to light as part of a lawsuit suggest.

The New York Times reported, citing letters from Wisconsin bishops to Ratzinger, the future pope, while church officials struggled over whether Murphy, who worked at St. John's School for the Deaf in Milwaukee from 1950 to 1974, should be dismissed, their No. 1 priority was protecting the church from scandal.

The documents were obtained by the Times, which the church fought to keep secret, from Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan, lawyers for five men who brought four lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Murphy, who admitted in 1993 to molesting some 200 boys and told a social worker he felt no remorse, was to be tried in 1996 in a secret canonical trial that could have led to his dismissal.

The Times further said that the process stopped after Murphy wrote to Ratzinger arguing he should not be put on trial because he had repented and was in poor health.

The case was beyond the church's own statute of limitations, Murphy said.

Murphy further wrote, "I simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood. I ask your kind assistance in this matter." (With Inputs from Agencies)