Church
Advisory board for those affected on the study: inhuman behavior
Mainz Cathedral. photo
© Arne Dedert/dpa
For decades, cases of sexual violence in the diocese of Mainz have been played down, kept secret and not adequately prosecuted. This is the result of a recently presented study.
Before the meeting of the synodal path to reforms of the Catholic Church in Germany, the Advisory Board of Affected Persons again expressed strong criticism in view of the Mainz abuse study.
Once again it is becoming clear with all severity and clarity that behind the sexualized violence in the Catholic Church there is no random collection of shameful individual perpetrators, according to Johannes Norpoth, spokesman for the Advisory Board for Affected Persons at the German Bishops’ Conference. In a written statement before the synodal assembly, he spoke of the inhuman behavior of the management team, which had been revealed by the previously published abuse studies.
The Mainz study again clearly shows that not only the perpetrators, but also those responsible and in particular bishops have loaded themselves with incomprehensible guilt, including Cardinal Lehmann, long-standing chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference and for many the epitome of a church that is focused on people, according to Norpoth. “The Mainz study proves another, ugly trait of this bishop. With it, a well-known representative of the German episcopate is – rightly – pushed off his pedestal as a role model for more than one generation of theologians and clerics. It should not be the last pedestal, who will be free this year.”
Bishop of Mainz: Descriptions “deeply frightening”
Five days after the presentation of a study on sexual violence in the diocese of Mainz, Bishop Peter Kohlgraf expressed his horror at the cases listed therein. “Several times the descriptions were deeply frightening for me as a Christian and as a human being,” he said at a press conference in Mainz.
There was a system failure in the Catholic Church. “The lack of responsibility has encouraged abuse,” he criticized. It is not always easy for him to take responsibility for such a form of church, “which has by no means been overcome”.
In very personal words, he also addressed his predecessor Cardinal Karl Lehmann (1936-2018), who was also chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference for many years and, according to the study, had repeatedly questioned the systemic responsibility of the church and the diocese for acts of abuse. “In dealing with those affected by abuse, he embodies a church that sets itself apart and does not face up to its responsibility,” criticized Kohlgraf.
The fifth and final synodal assembly on the reform of the Catholic Church begins in Frankfurt on Thursday. The synodal path reform project was triggered by the abuse scandal. Concrete changes are sought in the four areas of the position of women, dealing with power, sexual morality and compulsory celibacy for priests. However, the Vatican has already made it clear that it opposes such a renewal.