Dismay at abuse report: Pastor speaks of "trust disappointment"

Created: 01/22/2022, 07:25

By: Josef Ametsbichler

Has announced enlightenment: Reinhard Cardinal Marx, Archbishop in the diocese of Munich-Freising.

© dpa

A prominent case in the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church also happened in the Ebersberg district.

This is how pastors and laypeople react to the church report.

District

– The church quake after the publication of the abuse report for the Archdiocese of Munich also affected the district of Ebersberg.

370 of 1893 pages deal with the case of Peter H., who worked as a pastor in Grafing from 1982 to 1985 and molested several children there.

Many believers also hit the role of the Bavarian Pope Benedict XVI to the core: As Munich Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the now retired Pope had allowed the proven pedophile clergyman to Upper Bavaria.

And knew "predominantly probably" about his actions beforehand, says the text.

Abuse and cover-up: "Perpetrator protected, let victim fall off behind"

A well-known voice among lay Catholics in the district is the chairman of the parish council in Forstinning, Toni Beer (55).

"It makes you sad and angry," he says of the report.

He had already expected a lot of what was in it.

But: "I was surprised and left speechless by the systematic approach used to protect the perpetrators and let the victims fall off the back," says Beer.

The incumbent Archbishop of Munich, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, is to be credited with the fact that the long-known problem of abuse in the Catholic Church is finally beginning to be dealt with openly.

Whether these forces have the majority in the church in Germany and in Rome is not certain.

Beer bitterly meets the role that Joseph Ratzinger apparently played in dealing with the perpetrators.

"He would have had it in his hands to do it differently." The scandal as the destruction of the life's work of the emeritus pope?

"Yes, I think so," says Forstinninger.

Beer praises the pastors in his congregation who are open to new things.

"The local church needs to revive," he says.

A "fresh start from the bottom" is needed.

The abuse report should not end up as "another piece of paper in the drawer".

Report on the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising: a muzzle for the pastors

The Archdiocese of Munich has ordered its pastors to be muzzled.

"In the case of press inquiries, it is essential to ensure that no statements, comments, assessments, etc. are given to media representatives on the report," says a confidential circular.

The Ebersberg pastor and dean Josef Riedl refers to the next press conference of the diocese.

Pastor Anicet Mutonkole-Muyombi from Grafing, where Peter H. abused children in the 1980s, has no time for a phone call to

on Friday.

Kurt Riemhofer (66) says something.

He is a pastor in Egmating and was a prison chaplain in Munich-Stadelheim for 20 years.

"Sexual abuse is one of the worst crimes that can happen," he says.

"You have to look for publicity and reappraisal." But he thinks it's "a shame that you only pick at the church".

There are also cases of abuse at schools or in other organizations that look after children and young people.

Pastor concerned about allegations against Joseph Ratzinger

Riemhofer meets the allegations against Joseph Ratzinger, who ordained him to the priesthood in 1982. "I know him well," says the pastor. "I don't trust him that he would have kept silent if he had known." To this day, the pope emeritus is looking for an exchange. "He is very worried and remembers all his priests," reports Riemhofer from a conversation in Rome a few years ago.

He believes that pastoral training has improved compared to the past.

Attention is paid to warning signs as early as during the course of study.

But further reforms are needed in a church, of which Riemhofer has the impression that the administration has become far too large.

"People are looking for support in their faith, but there is a lack of openness," says the pastor, speaking of a "disappointment in trust" for the believers given the late processing of the abuse cases.

He hopes that at some point the church will be able to get this work done and complete it.

Is this point in time foreseeable?

"Not at the moment, unfortunately."