According to a study, hundreds of people in the Catholic Church in Switzerland have been victims of sexual violence since the mid-1950s – especially children. The cases uncovered are just the “tip of the iceberg”. The study is not yet completed.
In Switzerland, at least 1,002 cases of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church have been uncovered since the 1950s. Historians from the University of Zurich reported that 510 accused and 921 affected people had been identified when presenting their study.
It was the first time that an independent research team was able to view files on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in church archives in Switzerland.
Researchers assume that the number of unreported cases is large
“The identified cases are undoubtedly just the tip of the iceberg,” said professors Monika Dommann and Marietta Meier, who led the project. Numerous other cases were “hidden, covered up or trivialized”.
It can also be assumed that only a small proportion of the cases were reported. In addition, many archives are not yet accessible and some files have been destroyed. Cases ranging from “problematic border crossings to the most serious, systematic abuses that lasted for years” were uncovered.
Three quarters of the victims were minors
Around 39 percent of those affected were female and almost 56 percent were male. For five percent, the gender could not be clearly determined in the sources. With a few exceptions, the accused were men. The majority of victims, 74 percent, were minors, “ranging from infants and pre-pubescent children to post-pubescent young adults,” the study says. 14 percent affected adults, and 12 percent of the cases were unclear about the age of those affected.
Perpetrators were Catholic clerics, church employees and members of religious orders in Switzerland. The researchers identify pastoral care, the educational sector as well as religious orders and new spiritual communities with their particular power constellations as areas for abuse in the church environment. This included confessional discussions, altar service and religious instruction.
Acts were covered up and perpetrators were protected
The authors of the study note that church criminal law was rarely applied in many cases. In many cases, officials covered up or downplayed the matter. Accused and convicted clergy were transferred on, sometimes abroad – also to avoid secular punishment. “The interests of the Catholic Church and its dignitaries were placed above the well-being and protection of parishioners,” the study said.
Even when clergy were convicted criminally, they were often protected by the dioceses and allowed to continue working with children and young people, as case studies from the study show.
State Shared responsibility should be investigated
The pilot project is the first systematic attempt to scientifically define and outline sexual abuse in the context of the Catholic Church in Switzerland. A larger investigation should follow and be available in three years. Archives that could not be viewed before, such as those from Catholic homes, schools and religious orders, will then also be able to be viewed.
The role of the state should also be examined. “In the future, the co-responsibility of the state should be examined more closely, especially in the social charitable and educational areas, because tasks were often delegated to the church, especially in Catholic areas,” the university said.
Bishops’ Conference appears horrified
The study was commissioned by the Swiss Bishops’ Conference, the Conference of Religious Orders and the Roman Catholic Central Conference of Switzerland (RKZ), the cantonal church organization. The Swiss Bishops’ Conference was horrified by the results of the study.
They showed abysses, said the chairman, Bishop Felix Gmür. “Too many church leaders have acted irresponsibly for decades,” admitted Gmür. “They didn’t take those affected seriously and protect the perpetrators. They were on the wrong side.” This guilt cannot simply be wiped away. “Behind every number there is a person, a face, a life that was destroyed,” said the chairman of the bishops’ conference.
Psychological tests are intended to prevent attacks
The members of the bishops’ conference recognized this suffering and the guilt of the church and wanted to do everything humanly possible “so that those affected receive justice and sexual abuse is prevented in the future,” said Gmür and announced concrete measures.
The members of the Bishops’ Conference, together with the cantonal corporations and religious orders, decided to create and finance independent reporting offices. He also promised to professionalize human resources and personnel selection. In the future, all candidates for training in pastoral care would have to undergo uniform psychological tests.