Ruhrbischof: "Air up" for victims' compensation

Created: 01/21/2022, 18:10

Franz-Josef Overbeck, Bishop of Essen, speaks to journalists and citizens.

© Bernd Thissen/dpa

In view of the abuse in the Catholic Church, Ruhr Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck is campaigning for more compensation for the victims.

"This pain, this suffering cannot be weighed in money," he said on Friday evening at a solidarity campaign for those affected in front of the Essen bishopric.

A cash payment is "the right thing and also the appropriate".

Essen - "There is certainly still room for improvement," emphasized the bishop.

The Essen diocese is committed to this - both within the German Bishops' Conference and in its own area.

The acts of abuse in the church "had a lot to do with cover-up, a lot with lies and a lot with violence," said the bishop.

They not only trampled on people's dignity, but also plunged the church into a crisis "that I never thought would ever be in such an existential crisis," said the bishop.

Almost 100 people took part in the solidarity campaign.

"We are here, we are loud - Justice Amen," they chanted.

Bishop Overbeck left the bishop's house, came to the forecourt and discussed with the people.

When no more questions came, he prayed an Our Father with them.

The new report on sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising presented on Thursday is also about a priest who, in the 1970s, before his transfer to Bavaria, sexually abused boys in Bottrop and Essen and continued to do so at his new place of work should have.

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As early as 2012, the Ruhr diocese had commissioned a law firm to carry out a legal examination of all the personal files of the clergymen who were still alive with regard to any allegations or suspected cases of sexual abuse and presented the results in 2017.

dpa