Status: 09/20/2022 12:45 p.m
In the diocese of Osnabrück, bishops and other responsible persons have not reacted appropriately to reports of sexualized violence for decades. This is confirmed by a study by the University of Osnabrück.
Historians and legal scholars from the University of Osnabrück have accused the diocese of Osnabrück of serious breaches of duty in cases of sexualised violence up to and including the year 2000. For decades, those responsible had not reacted appropriately to indications of abuse.
put minors at risk
As a result, the diocese put other minors at risk of sexualized violence, said the legal scholar Hans Schulte-Nölke at the presentation of an interim report on sexualized violence in the diocese of Osnabrück.
Schulte-Nölke added: “The bishops have individual responsibility when deciding on the further deployment of suspects.” There were a number of breaches of duty, particularly among bishops Helmut Hermann Wittler (1957-1987) and Ludwig Averkamp (1987-1994).
This also applies to the incumbent Bishop Franz-Josef Bode in his first years in office. In addition, in 2010 he made a sensational request for forgiveness and promised to take full advantage of the help for those affected. However, this promise was not implemented in practice in the years that followed.
Secrecy the guiding motives
For a long time, “secrecy, the prevention of disclosure” were recognizable “acting motives” of those responsible, according to the project manager of the study, the historian Siegrid Westphal. In addition, there is often a “partially unclear legal situation”. However, these ambiguities “do not mean that there are no legal obligations,” according to the second project manager, the lawyer Schulte-Nölke.
For the first part of the study, the researchers analyzed 16 anonymous case studies – 15 priests and one deacon. The focus was on the question of whether, in suspected cases of sexualised violence, the actions of diocese officials corresponded to the existing provisions of state and church law.
Bishop Bode wants to comment
The diocese had contractually promised to support the research without restrictions and to grant the scientists free access to all documents, insofar as this is legally permissible. According to the university, it has no possibility of raising an objection. Representatives of the diocese of Osnabrück were expressly not invited to the presentation.
Bishop Bode, who, according to a diocese spokesman, was following the live stream of the press conference at home on his screen, wanted to make an initial statement during the day. He will give more details at a press conference on Thursday. He has led the diocese since 1995.
Project planned for three years
The research project commissioned by the diocese in 2021 is scheduled to run for three years. The full extent of sexualised violence in the area of the diocese since 1945 is only to be determined in the next two years with a main historical and legal-historical study. To do this, the researchers not only want to study files, but also interview those affected and contemporary witnesses as far as possible. Employees have also gone into the archives of the Archdiocese of Hamburg, whose current areas belonged to the Osnabrück Diocese until January 1995.
The diocese of the University of Osnabrück made 1.3 million euros available for the project. Those responsible and other diocese employees were interviewed several times.