Status: 03/22/2022 10:38 a.m
About two months ago, the abuse report revealed the extent of the scandal in the Catholic Church. Cardinal Marx has now met those affected – who formulated very specific demands.
Such a meeting cannot take place in a church, not even in the parish hall. Some of those affected can no longer set foot in a church building. So you meet in sight of the Munich Frauenkirche in a small theater hall, the Künstlerhaus on Lenbachplatz. neutral terrain. And a cardinal who above all listens.
“I’ve waited ten years for you to contact me, for you to help me, for you to support me. Today I’m here to help you,” says Richard Kick from the Advisory Board for Affected People of the Archdiocese of Munich.
Two weeks ago he called on Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, in an open letter to finally “perceive empathetically” the victims of sexualized violence in the Catholic Church and to get in personal contact with them. The meeting in the evening is a step towards each other and an attempt “to do everything so that we can talk to each other as equals,” says Kick. “That’s the basic requirement for the person affected to have the feeling: I’m being taken seriously. And you can hear what I say.”
Almost 500 victims, more than 230 alleged perpetrators
The Munich abuse report made headlines around the world two months ago. Not just because of the numbers: the experts speak of at least 497 victims and 235 suspected perpetrators.
It’s also about responsibility. Archbishops of Munich – including the later Pope Benedict XVI. – have behaved incorrectly in dealing with cases of abuse, according to the report.
Thoughtful, almost meekly
After this finding, the incumbent appears thoughtful, almost meek. In 2010, after the abuse scandal became known, he first sought to talk to those affected, says Marx.
Today I see it even more radically than then. The fact that this discussion also calls into question the entire system from its foundations.
Basically, it will be when those affected speak up. One demands neutral contacts, neutral places that victims can turn to because they have just lost all trust in the church. And again and again the demand for compensation, for concrete support. “Even though the diocese is helping me, I have to say: My therapy costs have not been paid for a full year. Why are these promises not being kept?” criticizes one of those affected.
Insulted for openness as a “nest polluter”.
And then there are biographies like this: Thomas Semel was abused as a young altar boy in the church. Today he works as a priest for this institution. And has to do a balancing act every day, as he reports:
I am a member of the Church as an officer. At the same time, I am one of those affected who are in conflicts of loyalty, who have to justify themselves to their confreres as a benefactor when they go out and tell about it.
Semel is also involved in the Archdiocese’s Advisory Council for Affected Persons, arguing with his church about recognition and clarification, but has not broken with it.
Regular meetings planned with those affected
After the two-hour meeting, Cardinal Marx said: “It gives me hope that there are many – that’s certainly not the case with everyone – who want to continue working. They say: ‘Nevertheless. We’re going on because faith is important to us is because we care about the gospel and the fellowship of the church.'”
The meetings with those affected who still want to talk to the church and its representatives are to take place regularly from now on. There is still a lot to talk about.
Cardinal Marx meets victims of abuse
Tilmann Kleinjung, BR, 22.3.2022 9:18 a.m