Survivors expressed relief at the release of the report, but one of them, Udo Kaiser, said it could not restore their stolen childhoods.

“It has been documented,” Mr. Kaiser said in a telephone interview from his home in Munich. “Everything I have been saying for the past 30 years, when no one believed me, everything I have been fighting for the past seven years is now public.”

The 440-page report did not focus on Father Ratzinger or the question of whether the priest might have turned a blind eye to the abuse, though it does contain a section focused on victims’ recollections of him.

For some, Father Ratzinger embodied a musical perfectionist who sought success above all else, while others recalled him as being quick with a slap, and having no compunction against throwing a chair or music stand into the choir.

Many recalled him picking favorites, which meant the best singers had no problems with him, while others were beaten or slapped for singing a wrong note.

When Mr. Weber started his investigation, Father Ratzinger was critical, calling it “insanity” to try to investigate how many slaps had been “doled out” in the institution associated with the choir. He did not have any immediate comment on the latest findings.

The sexual abuse ranged from “leering looks or verbal abuse, to the forced consummation of pornography, unwanted sexual touching to forced sex,” the report said.