After the abuse report for the diocese of Aachen was published, Bishop Helmut This called on his predecessor to show a “sign of repentance”. He also asked to refrain from taking legal action against the report.
Former Bishop Heinrich Mussinghoff (80) and his former Vicar General Manfred von Holtum (76) should begin a “personal process of self-reflection” about how they deal with cases of abuse, he said in a video press conference on Monday. He appealed to the former leaders of the diocese to refrain from taking legal action against the report and to take the victims’ perspective.
“Undeserved leniency” towards suspects and convicts
The report presented on Thursday by the Munich law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW) attests to Mussinghoff that Holtum and those in charge of those who have already died were oriented towards protecting the perpetrators and not caring for the victims. Mussinghoff and von Holtum had shown an “undeserved leniency” towards suspected and convicted clergymen and had often reinstated them in pastoral care.
Before the presentation of the Aachen report, the two clergymen pointed out that it was not allowed to be published for reasons of privacy protection. Mussinghoff’s lawyer rejected the “blanket allegations” that he had not taken care of the victims in his statement for the report. If the guidelines of the Bishops’ Conference on abuse cases from 2010 had already been available, the victims would have been treated differently. Mussinghoff headed the diocese from 1995 to 2015.
According to this, it is not about devaluing the life’s work of Mussinghoff or Holtum. With a view to cases of abuse, they should acknowledge their responsibility “in the systemic whole”. Although this is “painful”, it could help victims whose perspective must now be at stake. According to his own statements, he had met Mussinghoff on Saturday.
Establish an independent commission
He described the report, which is supposed to clear up the cover-up of decision-makers in the period from 1965 to 2019, only as the “first step in processing”. He announced the establishment of an independent commission to deal with cases of abuse with experts from science and the judiciary, among others. This also corresponds to the agreement between the German Bishops’ Conference and the abuse commissioner of the federal government. In addition, he wanted to encourage those affected to form an advisory board that would work with the diocese to come to terms with it.
The payments to the victims for the recognition of the suffering are not made from church tax funds, according to Die. The money should come from a pot into which bishops, priests and other voluntary donors pay. Those responsible in particular should pay a “reasonable fine”, said Vicar General Andreas Frick.
According to HR manager Margherita Onorato-Simonis, employees were previously sent away by those responsible with indications of sexual violence and were obliged to keep silent. Every suspected case will be followed up today, she assured her. She also announced that the filing would be adapted to modern standards. The experts found incomplete and clean documents.
–
