It is the dark side of the brotherhood’s history that remained hidden behind monastery walls in the Spessart for years: around five years after the death of a co-founder, the ecumenical community of the Christ Bearer Brotherhood accused the former prior of sexual abuse. Between 1963 and 1995 he sexually assaulted at least eight brothers, including at least one who was not yet of legal age.
“This is now part of the heritage of our community,” says Brother Christian Hauter at the brotherhood’s headquarters in Triefenstein am Main in Lower Franconia (Main-Spessart district). “We have to own up to what others have done wrong.” In an unusually open manner, the Christ Bearers deal with what is probably the darkest chapter of their community – and publicly.
Behind them lies a long period of repression and silence: “We were blind to the dark sides of our first prior for many years; it took us far too long until we saw through him as an impostor, especially in spiritual matters,” writes the current leadership group of the Brotherhood in an open letter to around 6,000 friends and companions. “We thought that strict obedience was the right thing to do,” explains the 61-year-old Hauter, who worked under the then prior for several years. “I’m a socially sensitive person, but I didn’t notice the suffering of others.”
The abuse report is 99 pages long
This suffering can now be read in black and white on the Internet – brought to light by a commission of experts commissioned by the Brotherhood. The 99 pages are about a sophisticated system of abuse: abuse of power, spiritual abuse and sexual abuse were intertwined in the community founded in Hesse. Shortly before or after communion, pastoral care or confession, the former prior is said to have acted out his urges on fellow brothers who were his servants. “Back then, we brothers weren’t used to talking to each other or even publicly about problems.” Through his authoritarian leadership style, the prior prior created a climate of fear.
For canon lawyer Thomas Schüller from the University of Münster, the events involving the Christ Bearers are not an isolated case: “It shows that, both Catholic and Protestant, there is a high risk of spiritual and sexual abuse in special, high-profile spiritual communities with leading figures.” The fact that the public is now being sought so aggressively can, however, be “appraised positively”.
The brotherhood has had its home in Triefenstein Monastery since 1986. It is an order-like, ecumenical community within the Protestant Church, but not part of the regional church. According to their own statements, twelve brothers and other Christ bearers currently live in the monastery. The house is also open to outsiders, for example for seminars or leisure activities. There are up to 8,000 overnight stays every year.
The co-founder and first prior of the community since its founding in 1961 was deposed in 1996 after his alleged attacks became known. However, the brotherhood did not go public. “We should have called in the police and an independent advice center back then. Neither happened. Today we know that was a mistake,” the management openly admits in the letter. The suspect died in 2018. The Würzburg public prosecutor’s office is therefore not investigating him today, as a spokesman explains.
Victims of abuse are not just members of the brotherhood
In total, at least four brothers are said to have been perpetrators, as the external commission called “Spurgruppe” found out. “We have received reports of sexual assaults both within the fraternity and against other individuals,” says the report, which was presented to the fraternity over the summer. “As far as we know, the majority of these were homosexual acts between men.”
One of the victims is said to have been a minor at the time. In addition, there are said to have been sexual attacks on two girls in Switzerland in 1987 and 1991 who did not belong to the community. The public prosecutor’s office is also investigating whether possible crimes committed by the other three suspects have now expired. “But I assume so,” an authority spokesman said recently. These three suspects are no longer part of the Brotherhood, but some of the alleged victims remain. According to the community, the public prosecutor’s office had already acted in two cases but discontinued the proceedings.
“It took us a very long time to speak publicly and to find words for the unsayable,” admits Brother Christian Hauter. The photo shows him in the library of the Triefenstein Monastery, the headquarters of the Christ Bearer Brotherhood.
(Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa)
In spring 2021 it was decided to address the issue, says Hauter. The “track group” (two therapists, a lawyer and a theologian) spoke to 15 people directly or indirectly affected and evaluated documents. Accordingly, many attacks are said to have occurred at the community’s former headquarters in Bensheim-Auerbach in Hesse and at other places where there are branches. In October the brotherhood informed the public. “It took us a very long time to speak publicly,” says Hauter, “to find words for the unsayable and to classify it spiritually.”
Since 2010, there has been an ombudsman’s office to which victims and those indirectly affected can turn. “The brotherhood also adopted a prevention order and formulated a voluntary commitment that all brothers signed,” explains Hauter. This stipulates that all cases of boundary violations and sexual violence in the context of the work of the Christ Bearers are taken very seriously by the management. Independent experts would then be called in, including the police and public prosecutor’s office, depending on the severity. The extent to which victims can be compensated should be clarified individually.
Canon lawyer Schüller sees the process of coming to terms with the matter as just a beginning. It remains to be seen whether the brotherhood will be prepared to properly compensate victims, “that doesn’t just mean handing out alms.”