The Diocese of Eichstätt is investigating several priests for possible crimes. According to the reports from the diocesan instructions, however, it is unclear whether these are cases of abuse. Details of the allegations could not be given for legal reasons, said a spokeswoman for the diocese on Wednesday.
In at least one case, however, possible sexual abuse is likely to play a role. Because in the case of this clergyman from the Middle Franconian district of Ansbach, the diocese leadership was informed “at the end of December 2022 by the external contact persons of suspected incidents”. The diocese employs two such contact persons specifically for examining allegations of sexual abuse of minors and those in need of protection. The person concerned was released from service and the information was forwarded to the public prosecutor’s office, the diocese reported.
In another case, the diocese accepted the resignation of a priest who also came from the district of Ansbach. A penal order against the man became final last October, and church proceedings are still ongoing. In the case of a clergyman from northern Upper Bavaria, the process is already further, here the Vatican has ordered a church criminal process. The man has been legally sentenced by the district court since May 2022, and he is also released from work.
In autumn, serious allegations against the former bishop Alois Brems became known in the diocese of Eichstätt. He is said not only to have covered up cases of abuse, but even to have helped a perpetrator escape from the police. Brems was Bishop of Eichstätt from 1968 to 1983, he died in 1987.