As of: February 21, 2024, 3:32 p.m
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During a solidarity campaign with victims of abuse in the Catholic Church, the light casts the shadow of a cross through one of the windows of the Church of the Nativity of Mary.
© Nicolas Armer/dpa
It's about large sums of money.
Several victims of abuse want to sue the Diocese of Trier for compensation.
Trier - With an aid fund, the association of abuse victims and those affected in the Diocese of Trier wants to financially support victims in lawsuits for compensation for pain and suffering against the Diocese of Trier.
Such civil lawsuits could be expensive, said the chairman of the Missbit association, Hermann Schell, on Wednesday in Trier.
The money from the relief fund should help those affected to enforce their claims.
To this end, donations and loans should be obtained to pre-finance the lawsuits, said Schell.
Two lawsuits from victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy are currently being prepared, the association said.
Another ten affected people wanted to wait for the first trial and then decide on their own lawsuits, said Schell.
“They are definitely ready to sue.” In addition, it is expected that there will be further lawsuits from those affected who are not connected to Missbit.
The possible plaintiffs are based on a groundbreaking ruling by the Cologne regional court from June 2023, which awarded a victim 300,000 euros in compensation.
It was a man who had been sexually abused by a priest for many years as an altar boy in the 1970s.
In Trier, opera singer Thomas Kießling (61) said on Wednesday: "I was raped several times a week for four years by a priest in the Benedictine Abbey of St. Matthias." He was initially ten years old when the crimes occurred.
He has now decided to sue, also because he wants to come to terms with it.
So far he has received around 12,000 euros in compensation.
The Trier Missbit chairman Schell said that in serious cases, 300,000 euros in compensation should be “the lower limit”.
The association also wants to provide human support to the plaintiffs, as such proceedings are stressful.
It is regrettable that Trier Bishop Stephan Ackermann rejected out-of-court settlement negotiations and a proposed formal cooperation agreement.
The diocese of Trier had previously stated that it expected lawsuits for compensation for pain and suffering.
They have been announced.
As of Monday, the diocese had not received any complaints, as a spokeswoman for the diocese said upon request.
Since the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church was uncovered in 2010, the Diocese of Trier has paid a total of over 2.1 million euros to 164 victims by the end of 2022 in recognition of the suffering.
The Diocese of Trier has a good 1.2 million Catholics in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.
dpa