Catholic dioceses and religious orders in Germany have paid out around 32.9 million euros to victims of sexual abuse in the past two years. This emerges from the annual report of the Independent Commission for Recognition Services (UKA) presented in Bonn on Friday.
This commission was approved by the German bishops in autumn 2020 and has been active since January 1, 2021. It is staffed by eleven external experts chaired by the former judge at the Cologne Higher Regional Court, Margarete Reske. The UKA reviews and decides on applications from those affected and approves them. The amounts are then paid out by the respective dioceses or orders. These are voluntary payments without acknowledgment of a legal obligation.
Objections should be possible from March 1st
According to the UKA, 9.4 million euros were paid out in 2021 and around 23.5 million euros in the second year. There was also around 800,000 euros for cases that had already been examined, in which those affected had provided further information about the crimes. Before the start of the UKA procedure, the church had also paid out a total of 7.2 million euros, this sum was taken into account.
From the outset, the UKA was exposed to criticism from those affected by abuse: the decisions took too long, were not transparent, and there was no appeal solution. The bishops’ conference then increased the number of staff at the UKA’s office, and a third tribunal was set up. According to Margarete Reske, the UKA now meets four times a month. On average, it only takes up to a maximum of four months for those affected to receive money.
In addition, according to the bishops, the rights of those affected by abuse would be strengthened: from March 1st, applicants should now be able to lodge a one-time and informal objection to the decisions of the UKA. This does not have to be justified, and those affected were also given access to their case files – this has not been the case until now.
The resentment was sparked above all by the sums paid out, which many affected people consider to be far too low in view of the serious consequences that determine their entire lives. In fact, more than half of the applicants, namely 54 percent, received only 15,000 euros or less. In 143 cases (around eight percent), the Commission issued more than 50,000 euros, in 24 cases (1.3 percent) more than 100,000. The UKA decided on a total of 1,809 applications. Three quarters of the applicants were men, although in the particularly serious cases involving sums of more than 50,000 euros, there was a higher proportion of women.
For comparison: A former acolyte is currently demanding compensation of 805,000 euros from the Archdiocese of Cologne before the Cologne Regional Court. The judge had already indicated in the first hearing that he was tending towards a “six-figure amount”.
Children in care were particularly affected
In view of such sums standing in the room – aren’t the recognition payments actually too low? More money is always nice, says Ernst Hauck, former presiding judge at the Federal Social Court and UKA deputy chief. Every person affected is free to take legal action, but every person affected also bears a cost risk with a process. “In addition, the person concerned must then expose themselves. Many applicants have not yet spoken about the abuse, even in the immediate family circle,” says Hauck.
The procedure at the UKA, on the other hand, takes place without the publicity of the process and offers the individual the opportunity to quickly receive a larger sum. “There is no question that the process can be discussed,” said Hauck. “But overall it offers more benefit than harm and for those affected the chance to see their suffering acknowledged.”
The UKA drew a special look at children in care homes: These were particularly often affected by sexual abuse, and the attacks also began at a younger age, at under six years of age. The abuse among them also extended more often than among non-residential children for more than eleven years.