Victim demands: Catholic Church in Eichenau must come to terms with abuse

In front of the parish church "To the Holy Guardian Angels" in Eichenau stands Richard Kick. As an altar boy, he was sexually abused by the chaplain. The 66-year-old has not entered the church since. If the church takes reappraisal seriously, it must investigate every community of perpetrators Richard Kick, abuse victim © Peter Weber

Richard Kick's trauma began when he was eight years old. For a long time he was sexually abused by the then chaplain Georg Pitzl.

Eichenau – The 66-year-old Kick is now calling for a reappraisal of the abuse scandal in Eichenau – and calls on possible other victims to come forward.

Eichenau is still his home. Nevertheless. Or now more than ever. Richard Kick, who has lived in the commuter community for 60 years, feels at home in the place. But he hasn't set foot in the Church of the Holy Guardian Angels since his youth. Because these guardian angels did not protect little Richard: He was severely sexually abused as an altar boy at the age of eight to twelve years by the then chaplain Georg Pitzl for years.

Back with full force

In 2010, when the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church in Germany was dragged to light, the repressed memory of the inconceivable crime came back with full force at Kick. He sat in front of the TV, watched the coverage and "suddenly tears ran down my face". "They're talking about me," it flashed through his mind.

Since then, Kick has been tirelessly on the road: He has endured trauma therapy himself, deals with the Ordinariate, with Cardinal Reinhard Marx and his Vicar General Christoph Klingan, is spokesman for the advisory board of survivors in the archdiocese, brings politics on board to deal with abuse – and has just undertaken an internationally acclaimed cycling pilgrimage to the Pope with eight other abuse victims.

Not with a club

Cardinal Marx called the tour "historic for the archdiocese" because those affected were not angry victims, but presented their damaged hearts to the Pope in the form of a work of art. They came with a heart, not a club. Kick and his companions called on the Pope to send clear signals to perpetrators and bishops who have not lived up to their responsibility to this day. Francis shook hands with them and listened attentively.

Even three weeks later, Kick is still visibly touched by the encounter with the Pope. His faith did not suffer as a result of Pitzl's actions, but his trust in the institution did. The Eichenauer never tires of grabbing the officials in their responsibility. Those who had protected perpetrators and only transferred them to other places where they could continue to abuse children.

Workup

In the first years after 2010, Kick did not want his place of residence to be published. How would the people of Eichenau react? In the meantime, the 66-year-old stands by his past. Rather, he is now pushing for the Catholic guardian angel community to come to terms with the dark chapter.

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Fancy a voyage of discovery?

My Area

When Kick was eight years old, the nightmare began. In 1964, Pitzl was the only adult in the altar boys' camp, and he had his eye on Richard. "It started that he checked whether the swimming trunks were still damp, then I should take off my clothes and so on," says Kick. And so on – that is, regular abuse, he coerced the boy into oral sex. In tent camps, on excursions, even in the sacristy after baptisms or weddings. Richard Kick did not dare to talk to his parents about it, as the chaplain was his father's card specialist and a welcome guest in the house. Who would believe him?

With flag delegation

After all, the chaplain was the man of God. More than 50 years later, Kick is recognized as a victim of sexualized violence by a priest. His tormentor Georg Pitzl died in 2019 at the age of 88 – as an innocent, highly respected clergyman, he was buried in Emmering. "With a flag delegation and all the fanfare" – a fact that still causes nausea at Kick today. Because the Archiepiscopal Ordinariate knew at least since 2012 from a report by the then supreme church judge Lorenz Wolf that Pitzl is a perpetrator and must be reported to Rome.

But the pedophile priest was never sanctioned by the church. It was not until 2017 that Cardinal Reinhard Marx reported the case to Rome, but the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, considered the acts to be time-barred. Kick has the complete correspondence on this. But nothing happened. "And Pitzl did not only commit his deeds in Eichenau. He was also a pastor in Schnaitsee, Waldhausen and Walpertskirchen," says Kick. He is convinced that the abuse of children has continued there.

Silence and cover-up

After a documentary on the Arte channel entitled "Silence and Cover-up" on April 11, a woman contacted Richard Kick. As a young girl, she was harassed by Pitzl during her confession: she should tell if she already had a breast. What she does with her sister in bed at night. "She told me that she's been following this all her life – and she wants to make it public now." For Kick, the woman's call is proof that Pitzl has caused much more mischief.

"If the church really takes reappraisal seriously, then the church must proactively investigate the perpetrator communities, inform parish councils, ask the local pastor to address this in a sermon," says Kick. None of this has happened in Eichenau yet. In every community in Bavaria where there was a perpetrator, you have to address the church community and call on those affected to come forward. "I now have a signal from the Archbishop's Ordinariate of Munich that a devotion may be held here in Eichenau in the fall and then a conversation will be held in the parish hall." Maybe even the cardinal will come.

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At that time, after Kick's memories had broken open again, he had named five more potential victims to the Ordinariate and confided in the then pastor Albert Bauernfeind. The pastor, who has since died, had visited Pitzl and let Kick know that Pitzl wanted to talk to him. "When it comes to money, that wouldn't be a problem," Pitzl let him know. At that time, Kick was not yet ready to face his tormentor. "Today I would come with the police," he says.

Many letters

Many friends from back then wrote Richard Kick after he had made his story public. Now they knew why he had become so withdrawn. Why he had been addicted to alcohol and pills and had not been able to get his life under control at first. Today, Richard Kick has overcome the shame and long-standing feelings of guilt. Several therapies have helped him with this. "And my great wife."

Now the Eichenauer wants to help himself and encourage those who have suffered similar things in their childhood to overcome the silence and call the perpetrators by name. Richard Kick is now hoping for a date in the fall, when the acts of abuse by priests will be snatched from silence in Eichenau.

You can find even more up-to-date news from the Fürstenfeldbruck district on Merkur.de/Fürstenfeldbruck.