"It's all so dishonest!"

Created: 01/23/2022, 21:14

Dean Peter Dietz © MM Archive

Hundreds of cases of sexual abuse are said to have been swept under the table in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

The reactions of Catholics from the district.

Dachau – Dean Peter Dietz, head of the Petershausen-Vierkirchen-Weichs parish association, focused his entire sermon on the abuse scandal at the evening service on Saturday in Weichs. With ruthless words, although he was actually speechless when he announced the cruel deeds based on the investigations, he denounced the perpetrators, but also "cover-ups", and expressed his great regret to those affected. Everything must be explained and the consequences drawn from it. "The Church must not stand above the law!" The synodal path must be pursued unrestrictedly, was heard. "Trust is the best currency," emphasized Dietz, "and unfortunately we lost a lot there. That the church has done nothing since 2010 (when the allegations of abuse began) is wrong.”

After the service in Weichs, a visitor to the church said: "Respect for how Pastor Peter Dietz addressed the subject very clearly and didn't sugarcoat anything."

"It wasn't just in the last few weeks, when the abuse report and its publication in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising were being discussed again and again, that I thought to myself: There are some things that should have been put on the table in 2010," says Josef Mayer, pastor at Petersberg.

Because the following applies: “The truth alone makes free.

It's not my place to go after you in a bad way.

But I keep the justification addresses from Archbishop Gänswein and from our Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

- if I think from the victim's point of view, and that should have happened long ago - for little help and for limited credibility.

Pastor Josef Mayer © MM Archive

The twelve years in which "some urgent steps were not taken" caused him concern.

“However, I am also concerned about the fact that there are many people working in pastoral care who have gone their own way well and authentically, and whose existence has also fallen into disrepute and is likely to fall even further.

It is not an easy time for everyone in the Church.

But it is also a time when we must all see ourselves alongside the victims.”

Pastor Michael Bartmann © MM Archive

At the Eucharistic celebration on Sunday morning, Pastor Michael Bartmann, head of the Hebertshausen-Röhrmoos parish association, also spoke about the events of the past few days. "We are currently experiencing shocks in our church," Bartmann said in his sermon. "We see the failure of our institutions and church representatives, we see that there is no way forward if the church wants to continue to act as a church." Bartmann asked questions that concern many believers: "What has to happen, what has to change in the church, what needs to change in the institution? How do we get away from the power of those who rule everything? How do we get away from the exclusion of women? How do we get away from the horrific and horrifying events of abuse,how can we work it up? A glimmer of hope for me is that in 14 days in Frankfurt at the synodal conference really fundamental decisions will be made that something can change, something has to change. That it is not a few who oppose it that gain the upper hand, but that the majority come into play.”

"Unfortunately, my long-held assumptions and fears have been confirmed or exceeded by the report," says Jürgen Meyr from the church administration in Weichs. "It is shameful that sexual abuse of children and young people has been systematically covered up, played down and totally misjudged. Perpetrators were protected, victims played no or only a supporting role, they were not believed for far too long. The perpetrators were merciful, the victims merciless.” The protection of the perpetrators was always in the foreground, “and all this in order to ward off supposed damage from the institution of the Catholic Church – unbelievable, but unfortunately true.” The structures and power relations, a questionable one Sexual morals and also the partial exaggeration of priestly authority formed the breeding groundsays Meyer.

Jürgen Meyr © MM Archive

"As a volunteer who has been actively involved in our parish for many years and to this day, I am stunned and angry about the immense damage and the shambles that the responsible officials and dignitaries have caused.

Unfortunately, we will feel the serious consequences, especially in pastoral care, for a long time, if not decades.”

If the "necessary lessons" are not finally learned in the Catholic Church and "open and honest" action is taken, he sees "the church in our country on the way to insignificance," Meyr continued.

“It is no longer possible to tactically sit out and procrastinate.

The synodal path must be continued and must not be sabotaged.

Despite everything that has happened, one should not forget the important work of the church and its institutions.

This applies above all to the many excellent pastors and lay volunteers.

We should encourage them and strengthen their backs.”

Meyr concludes: "By the way: I'm staying and not leaving!"

"It's all so dishonest," says Sylvia Schlabitz.

She has been a member of the parish council in Hebertshausen since 1997 and has lived her faith since childhood.

The current abuse report has upset her.

"I always have the feeling that the church is protected, not only by the church itself, but also by other institutions, such as the judiciary." She misses that the perpetrators are punished appropriately.

“But you just send them somewhere else.” Children and young people put so much trust in the clergy, “and then they are so abused”.

There are only a few "who put the church in a bad light".

But the consequences are already noticeable, many believers are frustrated and have observed them.

Sylvia Schlabitz © MM Archive

Sylvia Schlabitz calls for something to change in the Catholic Church, and not only in dealing with cases of abuse;

in many respects the church is acting “as it was hundreds of years ago”.

As an example, she cites the traditional image of women.

"But I still hope that something will change." Schlabitz wants to run again for the upcoming parish council elections.