Mother Mechthild Thürmer now has to answer in court because of the granting of church asylum. The district court of Bamberg scheduled the hearing for February 28, her lawyer Franz Bethäuser told the Catholic News Agency on Tuesday. The abbess of the Benedictine monastery in Kirchschletten in the district of Bamberg is accused of aiding and abetting illegal residence.
The trial against mother Mechthild, 64, was supposed to take place in the summer of 2020, but was then canceled at short notice due to investigations into other cases of church asylum being granted against her. At the time, the court promised her a “heavy prison sentence” if she was convicted. The Benedictine nun is currently the only nun in Bavaria against whom charges in this regard are still being maintained.
A year ago, the Bavarian Supreme Court (BayOLG) confirmed the first instance acquittal of a Benedictine monk from Münsterschwarzach (file number StRR 95/21). The conviction of a Franciscan woman from Oberzell was then overturned. Bethäuser told the KNA that his client had been offered a procedure “because of minor guilt” and without a monetary requirement. However, this approach was “not appropriate after the Bavarian Supreme Court decided so clearly that granting sanctuary is not a criminal offence.”
The BayOLG does not see the elements of an aid to unauthorized residence as fulfilled if the granting of church asylum is limited to board and lodging. According to the court, anyone who does this is also not obliged to actively end the church asylum if a renewed hardship assessment by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) leads to a rejection. This obligation exists only on the part of the refugee and the authorities. The presiding judge referred to existing agreements between authorities and churches. Since 2015, a dossier has to be sent to the Bamf for every person admitted to church asylum. This expresses a legally effective self-commitment on the part of the authorities. Therefore, a church representative who strictly adheres to this agreement cannot be accused of any breach of duty.
Mother Mechthild was awarded the Göttingen Peace Prize in 2021 for her commitment to refugees. She said at the time: “What I did was a matter of course for me.” According to her information, a good 30 asylum seekers have received church asylum in her abbey since 2016.