Archbishops had complained about Fr Lawrence Murphy in 1996 to a Vatican office led by the future pope, but apparently received no response.
One victim told the BBC the Pope had known of a cover-up "for many years".
Arthur Budzinski, now 61, said Pope Benedict XVI should confess about what he knew.
He said through an interpreter: "It goes all the way up to him - he was in charge of these types of cases."
Allegations of the ***** of deaf ******** have also resurfaced in Italy, where interviews with several victims were due to be broadcast on national television on Friday.
At least 14 former pupils at the Antonio Provolo Institute for the Deaf in the northern city of Verona say they were ****** between the 1950s and the 1980s.
