German Bishops’ Conference: “The subject of abuse does not let us go”

In response to the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, the Bishops’ Conference decided to improve personnel records. In addition, the procedure for recognizing the suffering of victims of sexualised violence is to be reviewed.

The Catholic bishops in Germany have adopted uniform standards for keeping priests’ personal files. The chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, said that in the future a complete and tamper-proof documentation of all personnel processes in the area of ​​the church will be guaranteed. “We had a lot of catching up to do here because it became clear that in the past there was often very inadequate file management.”

The new Personal File Regulations (PAO) should therefore come into force in all 27 dioceses on January 1, 2022. On this basis, it is possible that accusations of abuse will in future be “bindingly, uniformly and transparently documented” in all dioceses, according to Bätzing. The advisory board for those affected by abuse of the German Bishops’ Conference has also spoken out in favor of the new rules.

Seamless file management should be guaranteed

The personnel file system also standardizes, for example, the information options between different dioceses, for example when a priest was active in several dioceses. In addition, the General Assembly agreed on binding principles in order to grant the new, independent processing commissions information and access to personnel files. This is not just about clergy, but about all church workers. The dioceses should now issue appropriate rules on the right to information based on the model of a model order, it said.

The background to the new rules is primarily the findings of the investigation into abuse, for example in the 2018 MHG study. In the past, files were often manipulated, pages removed or references to acts of abuse and their reports destroyed.

The new rules should now guarantee forgery-proof and seamless file management. For example, it is stipulated that all file pages are numbered consecutively.

Procedure should be reviewed

The Catholic bishops also want to review the procedure for recognizing the suffering of victims of sexual violence. Basically, they wanted to stick to the existing system, said Bätzing. “We understand that those affected can suffer from retraumatisation due to long processing times,” added Bätzing. “We see that expectations are being disappointed and that this is painful. We regret that very much.”

In mid-October, a meeting was therefore scheduled between representatives of the Advisory Council for Affected Persons, the Independent Recognition Commission (UKA), the German Conferences of the Order and the Conference of Bishops. The points of criticism should be discussed again and possible measures discussed.

“The subject of abuse does not let us go,” said Bätzing. “We cannot go back to business in the face of this darkest chapter.”

Bishops hold fast to recognition services

Basically, however, the bishops adhere to paying the recognition benefits within the framework of the legal and judicial conditions customary in Germany, according to the Limburg bishop. “The procedure is transparent, the members of the commission are just as well known as the criteria that are taken into account,” emphasized the Limburg bishop. “The level of benefits has also been increased significantly.” The stipulated benefits should be based on the “upper area” of the compensation tables.

Recently, the Bishops’ Conference’s Advisory Committee on Affected Bishops demanded that the procedure be reformed again. Currently it leads to numerous retraumatisations up to hospital stays, goes too slowly and is opaque and unjust. Many notices were also “incomprehensible and inappropriately small for those involved”.

In September 2020 the bishops fundamentally reformed the system of “recognition benefits” for victims of sexual violence. Anyone who has experienced abuse by a church employee as a child or adolescent should receive compensation for pain and suffering of up to 50,000 euros, which is customary in court proceedings, since January 2021, depending on the severity of the case.