The new report on sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising also shakes the Catholic base in the district of Munich.
County - Many believers are shocked and saddened.
For others, it's finally enough.
Like the Sauerlacherin Andrea Wecke.
"The system of the Catholic Church is again failing to take a stand and finally take responsibility.
This behavior can no longer be surpassed in terms of unspeakableness,” says the poet.
As a result, she has now finally decided to turn her back on this system and thus also to stop providing financial support through church taxes.
"I don't want to continue to support a modern sale of indulgences and pure lip service with warm words.
Unfortunately, this is the end for me and yes, it is unfortunate.
Sadly, faith, hope and love have been lost at this point.
"
Pastors should not comment
Very little is heard from pastors.
They received an order from the Archbishop's Office in Munich on Thursday.
There it says: "For press inquiries, it is important to ensure that no statements, comments, assessments or the like are given to media representatives on the report." One should refer to the press office.
In the Catholic rectory in Straßlach-Dingharting, pastor Ivan Dagelic simply said: “Politics and sex are not part of my services.
I preach about the gospel.” He will not comment on the incidents in the church.
Nevertheless, of course: "It affected me very much, I can hardly believe it all." Because of a few, so many people would have to suffer - and a great shadow would fall on the church.
Repentance of the perpetrators is absent
"There is nothing good to talk about here," says Pastor Stefan Scheifele, who recently became head of the Schäftlarn parish association. What he sorely lacks is remorse on the part of the perpetrators. "You don't hear anything at all from this side." But how are you supposed to hold the perpetrators accountable if the victims remain silent?” The statement by the pope emeritus and then cardinal does not convince Scheifele. The age and state of health alone raise the question of whether he wrote the letter himself. Because: "I couldn't remember which meeting I was at in 1980." That a cover-up in principle was possible is oppressive. "Without wanting to bother with the zeitgeist - but who would have believed you back then if you had said ,I was abused by a priest'?”
Martin Darchinger, chairman of the municipal council of St. Georg Hohenschäftlarn, is "shocked" by the latest development.
"We have to work through that first." Two years ago, the parish association and the parish council passed a resolution on prevention, which was distributed to everyone who has contact with young people and women.
break up power structures
Peter Benthues (84) is also “appalled and shocked”.
For 30 years he was chairman of the parish council of St. Wilhelm Oberschleißheim and 20 years on the board of the Catholic Council.
Shocked that Church dignitaries, claiming example and demanding respect, "could abuse children, the most sacred thing we have";
and the Church's handling of these crimes.
Power structures in the Catholic Church had to be broken up, celibacy abolished, and the Church had to renew itself.
Benthues will continue to be involved in the church.
"That's my belief and not the belief of others," he says.
This is what Abbot Petrus Höhensteiger OSB of the Schäftlarn monastery community says:
“The report surprised our community less than it stirred it. The Benedictine monasteries in Bavaria have been dealing with this topic for about 12 years. So there is no need to feel superior or make yourself important. As a monastery with a school, we are aware that we have a particularly great responsibility and do everything we can to ensure that omissions in the past, which led to serious guilt towards those under protection, no longer happen and can no longer happen. The publication of the report met with great interest in our monastic community and caused great dismay. Above all, we were concerned with the fundamental question of how firmly entrenched power structures and their unquestioned maintenance lead to severe damage and suffering for thosewho become victims within these power structures. Sexualized violence against those in charge, which is covered by institutions, is always preceded by an abuse of power. Especially as part of the church, which is also an institution, we are required to be attentive and vigilant when it comes to dealing with people who are entrusted to us. It is therefore necessary, as the Church of Christ, to do exactly what Jesus commanded us to do: not exercise power or administer traditional ancestral estates, but care for the people, especially the marginalized, and give them some of the goodwill and the To convey the goodness of God so that they can find "life in abundance" (John 10:10): a happy, successful life. The keyword could be: Away from hierarchies towards fraternity. The question,which was put to me in this context, namely which church we want in the monastery, I can only answer for myself and very personally: I would like a church in which variety and diversity are recognized as a value and in which everyone can have their own /has its place. A church in which we can all breathe easy; where we can truly be human. A Church that is truly an instrument of peace: for the world and for one's own interior. To do this, however, the Church must be and remain flexible. Pilgrim Church. Erupting Church. Wandering people of God.”where variety and diversity are valued and where everyone has their place. A church in which we can all breathe easy; where we can truly be human. A Church that is truly an instrument of peace: for the world and for one's own interior. To do this, however, the Church must be and remain flexible. Pilgrim Church. Erupting Church. Wandering people of God.”where variety and diversity are valued and where everyone has their place. A church in which we can all breathe easy; where we can truly be human. A Church that is truly an instrument of peace: for the world and for one's own interior. To do this, however, the Church must be and remain flexible. Pilgrim Church. Erupting Church. Wandering people of God.”
A lot went wrong there, says Magnus Schelle, deputy chairman of the parish council of St. Stephan in Oberhaching and church curator. Angelesen he has the abuse report so far – “a terrible read”. He knows someone who is affected. The suffering, even many years later, is still great. "The mistakes were also made at the top," says Schelle. “It would be good if they now had the courage to stand up and say what a mess it all was – and acknowledge the suffering of the victims and compensate them appropriately.” He himself remains committed to his church work , "because I find faith fascinating" and "because you can make the biggest difference when you're there". Changes have already been initiated in the church, "just because there is such a report at all".He is now eagerly awaiting Marx's statement, which he has announced for next Thursday.
desire for open discussion
It's a pity that we can't now discuss the report publicly, says Willi Kuper, deacon in the parish association of St. Heinrich/St.
Stephan in Munich and spokesman for the Munich Circle, an initiative of pastoral workers who, among other things, campaign for the rights of lay people in the church.
"That would be much more transparent," believes the Grünwalder.
He thinks the image that the church is currently giving to the public is bad.
And that every pastor is almost under suspicion.
He credits Cardinal Marx with really trying to come to terms with what happened.
"I very much hope that this will now be done professionally and that you can then get back to the real thing, namely to announce the good news, to signal to people that we are here for you."
