As of: February 15, 2024, 8:00 a.m
By: Pauline Zapp
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A research association to deal with sexualized violence and other forms of abuse in the Protestant church and diakonia in Germany published its studies on sexualized violence and abuse in the Protestant church.
© Julian Stratenschulte
There have been more cases of sexual violence in the Protestant Church across Germany than expected.
The study also concerns church representatives from the district.
District
- There were at least 1,259 suspected perpetrators in the Protestant church.
They are all said to have committed sexual violence against children and young people.
And that’s just “the tip of the tip of the iceberg,” the study says.
“Terrible, terrible and absolutely devastating,” says Christian Weigl, the dean of the Evangelical Church in the Freising district.
However, he is not particularly surprised.
“One could guess that the Protestant Church is not that different from the Catholic Church in this respect.
But of course that doesn’t make it any less bad,” he says.
The Freising pastor Meye Hoesch de Orellana also agrees: “Shocking,” she finds the findings brought to light by the study.
“In the Protestant Church you cannot use the argument of celibacy to mean that priests are not allowed to marry.
Many have families and children, which makes it even more shocking.”
It is important to the pastor, who is responsible for the areas of Freising Neustift, the north and northeast of Freising, Haag and Zolling, that the topic is taken seriously.
“In our youth work, we have been sensitized to this issue for a long time.
For example, if we have an overnight event, we have the youth staff show us a certificate of good conduct,” she reports.
Both Weigl and Hoesch de Orellana can imagine that the study will lead to more people leaving the church.
“But that’s nothing completely new, the number of people leaving the church has risen sharply in recent years – including in our district,” says the pastor and continues: “But it’s important to me to mention that that doesn’t mean that they people are no longer believers.
In my opinion, religion plays a role in many people’s everyday lives - regardless of people leaving the church.”
Christian Weigl's final wish: "I hope that we in the church learn from this and that something so bad doesn't happen again."