In the future, a notice board in the crypt of Paderborn Cathedral will remind of mistakes made by earlier bishops in dealing with abuse.
Paderborn Cathedral (Photo: pixabay)
Paderborn/Trier – In the future, a notice board in Paderborn Cathedral will remind of mistakes made by previous bishops in dealing with abuse. In the crypt, this is intended to draw attention to the transgressions of the former Archbishops Lorenz Jäger and Johannes Joachim Degenhardt who are buried there. In Trier, the square named after the former Bishop Bernhard Stein (1903-1993) is to be given the new name “Square of Human Dignity”. And in Ahaus, Westphalia, Caritas wants to change the name of its Bischof-Tenhumberg-Haus – as in Stein’s case because of a cover-up.
According to a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Paderborn, the agreement between the cathedral chapter and the affected council provides the following text: “From today’s perspective, the archbishops buried here committed serious mistakes in dealing with sexual abuse during their term of office. All too often they have placed the protection and reputation of the institution and the perpetrators above the suffering of those affected. You will soon receive further information via a QR code here in the burial place.”
According to the interim result of a study on sexual abuse in the Archdiocese, Jaeger (in office 1941-1973) and Degenhardt (1974-2002) have shown serious misconduct in dealing with abusers among the clergy. The cardinals would have protected the accused and sometimes expressed their sympathy in writing. On the other hand, they showed no concern for those affected.
The plaque will be on display from July 16, when the redesigned crypt reopens after three years of planning and construction. The QR code should lead to a website that, in addition to the omissions of the two former archbishops, also shows information about their lifetime achievements.
The renaming to Trier is also planned because of a study that proves that Stein knew about the abuse of children and protected perpetrators during his tenure (1967-1980). The city council recently decided to change the name after a controversial discussion. The proposal to choose the old names “Windstraße” and “Hinter dem Dom” again was rejected. Victims of abuse had criticized this proposal as “making invisible” the events. The majority in the city council supported the renaming in “Square of Human Dignity” to express “appreciation and solidarity with the victims”.
Shortly thereafter, the city announced that legal action had been taken against the renaming. Therefore, this is now on hold for the time being.
In Ahaus, a house for 25 people with cognitive impairments will no longer be called Bischof-Tenhumberg-Haus from September 1, but will bear the name of Cardinal Clemens August von Galen, who was in office during the Nazi era. Heinrich Tenhumberg (1969-1979), like other former bishops of Münster, is also attested in a study to be a “clerical cover-up story”. On the other hand, von Galen, Bishop of Münster from 1933 to 1946, campaigned aggressively for people with disabilities, according to the Ahaus-Vreden Caritas Association. The bishop was best known for his public appearances against the “destruction of life unworthy of life” during the Nazi era and was beatified in 2005.
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