Status: 12/12/2022 7:44 a.m
Osnabrück’s Bishop Bode still does not take cases of sexualized violence seriously enough from the point of view of the affected council. According to information from NDR Lower Saxony, the committee reported him under church law.
According to the North German Council for Affected Persons, the reason for the step are two recently known cases of sexualized violence, which Franz-Josef Bode declared as a “love relationship” and thus adopted the words of the alleged perpetrator. Among other things, it was about one Case in Ostercappeln – a priest is said to have abused a girl there for years. The Council of Affected has asked Bishop Bode to answer – far from purely criminal standards. Although progress can be seen in the diocese of Osnabrück, it is still not sufficiently victim-oriented.
Archbishop forwards complaint to Vatican
The North Council of Affected Persons contacted Archbishop Stefan Hesse of Hamburg with his complaint. According to canon law, this presides over the North German dioceses of Hamburg, Hildesheim and Osnabrück. Hesse should immediately forward the report to the responsible bodies in Rome. A papal letter from 2019 provides for this path, which regulates the handling of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. According to the Pope’s instructions, the Roman authorities have 30 days to respond to the complaint.
Abuse study sees omissions at Bode
In September, the University of Osnabrück published a study on sexual abuse in the diocese of Osnabrück. The authors accused the diocese of serious breaches of duty towards those affected – even during Bishop Bode’s tenure. He then admitted that he had been “blind” and wanted to take responsibility. He refused to resign.
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