Parts of the abuse report also reconstructed the transfer of the pedophile Pastor H. to Bad Tölz in 2008.
Bad Tölz
- The eagerly awaited report on the handling of the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising with cases of abuse by priests burdens the emeritus Pope Benedict XVI. heavy. The authors, the lawyers of the Westpfahl Spilker Wastl law firm, come to the conclusion that Cardinal Josef Ratzinger at the time knew very well personally about Pastor Peter H.'s past of abuse when he continued to serve as pastor in the archdiocese. The report presented on Thursday is also revealing with regard to Bad Tölz. What should at least provide some relief on site: from the time from 2008 to 2010, when Pastor H. was employed as a course pastor in Bad Tölz, no allegations of abuse appear in the report. The fact that Pastor H. probably did not commit any other crimes in Bad Tölz,corresponds to the current state of knowledge.
The altar boy reports that he was sexually abused by Pastor H. in the most massive way for almost eight years
The alleged cases documented in the document from H.'s time in Garching an der Alz, where H. had previously been a pastor for around 20 years, are all the more serious.
The most serious case mentioned here is that of a former altar boy who testified in 2010 that from the late 1980s to the early 1990s between the ages of eight and 15 he had been “sexually abused in the most massive way” by Pastor H.
The person concerned put the number of attacks at 60.
"Among other things, Priest X. also demanded sexual acts from the alleged victim as part of confessional talks as an indulgence," says the report (here H. is consistently called "Priest X.", editor's note).
The report reconstructs in detail how Hs was transferred from Garching an der Alz to Bad Tölz in 2008 for pastoral care at the spa and tourism.
Accordingly, a month before the end of his term as Archbishop, Friedrich Cardinal Wetter proposed in a meeting of the Ordinariate Council that Father H. “at the earliest opportunity without much ado from the parish in which he had been employed for more than 21 years remove".
If the church had released me from my priestly activities at that point in time, I would have had the opportunity to find other professional orientation.”
According to the report, the crucial reason why the church became active in 2008 was that a man who had allegedly become his victim in H's home diocese of Essen had come forward. This person concerned contacted Pastor H. in March 2008, demanded compensation and threatened that the public prosecutor's office and the media would be involved. According to the report, the professor's reaction was to file a criminal complaint against the man for attempted extortion. The apartment of the alleged abuse victim was then examined. The public prosecutor eventually dropped the investigation.
The report cites the memorandum of a regional pastor who was responsible at the time, according to which it had been "back and forth" as to "what should happen to [priest X.]: a new post without loss of face".
In discussions, “hospital was favoured”, “and suddenly, because [priest X.] didn’t want that, the idea of tourism came up, where I warned in conversation with [the auxiliary bishop] because it was clear to me at the time that he was the church will take care of and will do altar boy work there".
Pastor H.: "The Church made mistakes in dealing with me"
Before Pastor H. took up his position as spa and tourism chaplain in Bad Tölz on October 1, 2008, a psychiatrist commissioned by Wetter's successor Reinhard Marx had described H. as an "old case" who could be used in church service without restrictions. "The files do not reveal the extent to which those responsible on site, in particular the head of the parish association at the time, were informed about the past of priest X. before he was deployed," the report says. "During the interviews conducted by the experts, however, two respondents from this region stated that Priest X. was - each independently of one another - on the one hand by a high-ranking employee of the Archbishop's Ordinariate and on the other hand by Official Wolf (Lorenz Wolf, Official of the Archdiocese of Munich , Editor's note.) been heralded as a 'good man'."
As is well known, Peter H. enjoyed general popularity in Bad Tölz. His assignment here ended abruptly after less than a year and a half. The report describes how, in a letter dated March 10, 2010, H.'s home bishop from Essen informed Cardinal Marx that, in accordance with the agreement of the German Bishops' Conference, he had checked so-called "old cases of sexual abuse" in his diocese and had come across the case of Pastor H . Since he had reservations about the continued use of Hs in pastoral care, he suggested an assessment or retirement. A day later, the Bishop of Essen placed Pastor H. on temporary retirement “after consultation with the Archbishop of Munich and Freising”. With a decree of March 15, 2010, Marx revoked Peter H.'s permission toto exercise priestly services in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. As justification for this measure, the archbishop stated that H. had not observed the restriction imposed on him to pastoral care for people who had outgrown childhood and adolescence and had violated it in a serious way. Pastor H. himself has never spoken publicly since then. It is therefore interesting to read H's own words in the report, which are quoted from a defense document from 2013:himself has never spoken publicly since. It is therefore interesting to read H's own words in the report, which are quoted from a defense document from 2013:himself has never spoken publicly since. It is therefore interesting to read H's own words in the report, which are quoted from a defense document from 2013:
Pastor H. himself has never spoken publicly since then - excerpts from his 2013 defense:
"Furthermore, I am so immodest to say that despite the serious misconduct I have committed, I have experienced a lot of encouragement for my work and that - as a conclusion at the age of 65 - my priestly work in 40 years should not be reduced to cases of abuse" , writes H.
"On the other hand, I would like to point out that, despite my great guilt, the Church has also made mistakes in dealing with me. I was again deployed in the pastoral care of the parish in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which, knowing my past history, kindly gave me the opportunity to work as a priest alongside on-site therapy. After my criminal conviction in June 1986, of which the Archdiocese was also aware, a year and a quarter later I was reinstated in pastoral care, first as curate, then as parish administrator. If the church had released me from my priestly activities at that point in time, I would have had the opportunity to find other professional orientation.”
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