Freiburg (dpa/lsw) – Four years of preparation, 24 exemplary cases, up to 600 pages in length: The report on sexual abuse by clergy is likely to trigger criticism and emotions in the Archdiocese of Freiburg. An independent working group will present the report on Tuesday (10:30 a.m.) in Freiburg. Archbishop Stephan Burger wants to react to the revelations at the press conference. With around 1.8 million Catholics, the Archdiocese is one of the largest of the 27 dioceses in Deutschland.
High expectations are attached to the report, which is due to come out about six months later than originally planned due to legal safeguards. The Advisory Board for those affected assumes that there are around 600 people in the archdiocese who suffered abuse as children and young people – but the number of unreported cases is likely to be significantly higher.
There are many people affected with feelings of guilt and shame, as chairwoman Sabine Vollmer recently told the German Press Agency. “I hope that with the release of the abuse report, they will overcome those feelings and come forward.” The committee works independently of the archdiocese and is intended to be the contact person for those affected.
The report is intended to show how cover-up and abuse were possible in the archdiocese. 24 cases of abuse are presented as examples. The so-called AG file analysis with four external experts from the judiciary and criminal police has been working since 2019. Research on the basis of personnel files after sexual abuse had previously revealed something frightening: from the beginning of 1946 to the end of 2015, 190 suspects were discovered, most of them priests, and at least one 442 victims.
The report will be mostly anonymous. Top managers such as bishops and vicars general – these are the heads of administration – should be named. Particular attention should be directed to Burger’s predecessor, Robert Zollitsch. The former chairman of the Catholic German Bishops’ Conference had already admitted serious mistakes and personal guilt in an unusual video in October. The 84-year-old has now announced through a spokesman that he has silenced himself and does not want to comment on the report on Tuesday.
Similar studies have already been carried out in other dioceses, for example in Cologne and Munich. In Rottenburg-Stuttgart, unlike in other dioceses, Bishop Gebhard Fürst convened an independent “Commission on Sexual Abuse” a good 20 years ago.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:230417-99-348596/3
