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Hundreds of new references to abuse in the Catholic Church

2021-06-25T00:38:46.343Z


A study of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church was just the tip of the iceberg, experts believe. New figures from the victim organization and dioceses show that they are probably right.


A study of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church was just the tip of the iceberg, experts believe.

New figures from the victim organization and dioceses show that they are probably right.

Munich (dpa) - It has been almost three years since the Catholic Church published its large abuse study and with it terrifying figures: at least 3,677 minors were abused by 1,670 clerics in Germany between 1946 and 2014.

At least since the publication of this study, the church has been in a serious crisis.

Just over two weeks ago, the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, offered the Pope his resignation in order to take on structural responsibility.

Pope Francis refused to resign.

But what the MHG study brought to light was only the tip of the iceberg: since the study was published, hundreds of new indications of possible cases of abuse have been received - in initiatives for those affected, in the dioceses themselves and also in the judiciary.

Suspected high numbers of unreported cases

“In three years, around 250 people from all over Germany will have registered at the Eckigen Tisch,” says Matthias Katsch from the Affected Initiative of the German Press Agency - and that is still by no means all: “I assume that it will open every person concerned who has reported so far, at least three come and wait. "

The dioceses are also receiving more and more information: In the seven dioceses in Bavaria alone there were at least 205, as a survey by the German Press Agency revealed, including numerous reports of "border crossings" that are not criminally classified as sexual abuse.

According to the German Bishops' Conference (DBK), there are no nationwide figures.

In 2020, the religious orders made public that a further 1,412 affected people had contacted them.

"So we're talking about at least 5089 victims known to the church," says Katsch.

"If the various estimates based on surveys or comparative figures from abroad, such as the Netherlands, are correct, then the number of those affected by the Catholic Church should be around 80,000."

Not all cases are likely to have been punishable

According to a spokesman, around 130 new reports have been received by Cardinal Reinhard Marx's largest Bavarian diocese, the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, since the publication of the so-called MHG study.

According to the information, the information concerned not only the group of people who were considered in the MHG study, i.e. clerics, deacons and religious, but also educators, teachers and volunteers.

"The vast majority of the references referred to border violations that were below the threshold of criminal liability, ie not related to sexual abuse in the criminal sense," emphasized the spokesman.

In 36 of these 130 reports, the alleged date of the crime was even after the study, which is named after the locations of the universities of the research consortium - Mannheim, Heidelberg and Gießen - was published in autumn 2018. They come from the very recent past.

Investigators are looking into other cases

In 10 of these cases “it could not be ruled out that there was a criminal offense under secular law,” said the spokesman.

The Archbishop's Ordinariate filed criminal charges in two cases.

And these are not the only cases that concern the judiciary: At least 10 proceedings are currently pending with public prosecutors in Bavaria, as a dpa survey showed - including 3 with the majority at the Würzburg public prosecutor's office.

Less than two weeks ago, the Memmingen public prosecutor announced an investigation against a Catholic clergyman from the diocese of Augsburg.

According to the diocese, the pastor and dean were “released from office with immediate effect”.

According to the public prosecutor's office, there is a suspicion “that the clergyman has made himself liable to prosecution over the years through several sexual acts that are alleged to have taken place against a person”.

Expert sees more willingness to provide information

The criminologist Christian Pfeiffer now sees "an increased willingness to report" in connection with cases of abuse in the church: "They want to somehow deal with their emotions and want it to finally stop," he tells the dpa. And he also sees a change in the Catholic Church, which is also expressed in the fact that most dioceses now consistently report when they receive credible evidence of abuse: “The previous basic attitude: protection of the church at all costs, that has already changed changed."

Pfeiffer was originally supposed to lead the study, but turned it down because - as he says - the church did not want to grant unrestricted access to the files.

He is in no way surprised that the MHG study has gaps.

"It was all just for show - nothing more," he criticized a year and a half ago when it became clear that the study had no noteworthy criminal consequences.

His accusation at the time: Marx prevented an honest, transparent processing of the scandal - accusations that the DBK and the Archdiocese reject.

Pfeiffer had already called for Marx's resignation at the beginning of 2020.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210620-99-67068 / 3

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-06-25

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