Report on abuse in the Catholic Church: the press reviews

press review

Allegations against Pope Benedict
“The reality is repulsive”: the media response to the abuse report in the Archdiocese of Munich

There are always reports on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church – but the Munich report published on Thursday shakes the foundations of the institution in a way that has not been the case for a long time.

The report commissioned by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising itself from the Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW) chancellery comes to the conclusion that cases of sexual abuse have not been dealt with appropriately in the diocese for decades and accuses the former archbishops Friedrich Wetter and Joseph Ratzinger, the now Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, concrete and personal misconduct in several cases.

The Munich I public prosecutor’s office is currently investigating 42 cases of alleged misconduct by church leaders, confirmed the spokeswoman for the authority, Anne Leiding, of the German Press Agency. This is how the press reacted to the scandal:

“The standard” (Austria): “Unfortunately, it is not to be expected that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will one day have something important to announce – namely that he was fallible as Munich Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger and covered up abuse. He lives isolated in his own world , his time in Munich seems very far away. For many, however, remorse would be a weighty sign. (…) It is all the more important that the expert opinion of the Munich law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl is now available – even if it is a ‘horrifying balance sheet’ from the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising is, as the experts themselves say. (…) The motto ‘close your eyes and go through with incense’ must no longer exist. The Church owes that to far too many victims Self-preservation. Otherwise, even in Catholic Bavaria, the churches will soon be empty.”

“Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung”: “The present report specifically names alleged acts, perpetrators and accomplices at all levels. It outed a later pope as a cover-up and the retired Pope Benedict XVI as a denier. So the eyes are directed to today’s representative of God on earth, Pope Francis. The The Vatican would like to take a look at the report, assures all victims of its proximity and guarantees the protection of the youngest through a safe environment. Unfortunately, these statements have become a question of faith.”

“Rhine Palatinate”: “Again the realization that the responsible bishops have not shown any sense of wrongdoing or guilt even retrospectively – this also includes the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. No matter how many reports can be obtained, they will not provide any new insights into the systemic causes of the abuse in the Catholic Church. They have been known for a long time. Something can only change if the men at the top of the church finally admit their misconduct.”

“Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung”: “If priests abuse minors, exploit the relationship of dependency as well as the self-claimed moral gap, and if their superiors still cover it all – why do we need this institution? A question that many believers asked themselves, especially in the diocese of Cologne, and have answered the question of leaving the church. Cardinal Woelki is seen there as the personification of intransigence. His planned return is perceived as a burden. Whether the situation is the same in the diocese of Munich-Freising and whether the gap between the clergy and the grassroots is becoming ever wider depends entirely on the reaction of Cardinal Marx departs. Unlike the case of Pope Emeritus Benedict, who is heavily burdened by the current report and rejects any responsibility, with Marx the possibility of credible repentance seems to be conceivable. That’s exactly what it’s all about. The first step on a path The commission of the report was to improve it. But that alone is not enough.”

“Stuttgart Newspaper”: “Repulsive is the reality that the Catholic world church in particular has since been overtaken by by far not all known abuse scandals. She didn’t want to know anything about this reality – and still doesn’t want it, like the reply from the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to the authors of a report commissioned by the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising regarding abuse in the diocese from the post-war period to the present, with sometimes perverse hair-splitting.”

“Southwest Press”: “It is a devastating verdict on how sexual abuse was dealt with in the diocese of Munich and Freising – and on the role of the later Pope Benedict XVI. Joseph Ratzinger made serious mistakes as archbishop. Ironically, he was lax towards abusers. Children paid the price for this and parishes. Although there have been successes in prevention, risky structures continue to exist. Therefore, dealing with crimes of abuse must not be left to the churches alone.”

“Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”: “Although sexual violence is always a criminal offense according to state and ecclesiastical law, the same churchmen still withdraw today to ignorance of the norms and incompetence, which in the case of lay people, for example when violating norms of lifestyle, did nothing in order to severely sanction deviant behavior. ( …) The cases in question have been meticulously documented by the report at the latest.No one less than the former Pope Benedict XVI has documented how cynical the behavior of those responsible is in the face of this oppressive burden of proof.A firewall between careers of a pedo-criminal priest and his tenure as archbishop of Munich and Freising, Ratzinger did not even shy away from telling the obvious untruth.”

“Swabian Newspaper”: “The emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has been convicted of untruth. The Archbishop of Munich, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, has to be accused of irresponsibility. The former Munich shepherd, Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, is accused of repeated misconduct. The Munich abuse report relentlessly reveals that the highest representatives of the Catholic Church in Germany knowingly and intentionally covered up the abuse by priests. Protection of perpetrators and the protection of the church as an institution were and are important to them, protection of victims was and remains a foreign word for them. Through participation in the cover-up scandal and the complicity, which not only in Munich in Cologne, but probably in all other 25 German dioceses, the Catholic Church in Germany has reached a tipping point: trust is not only dwindling, but can no longer be regained for a long time. Maybe never again.”

yks
DPA