Freiburg (dpa/lsw) – The Vatican is checking whether possible disciplinary proceedings will be opened against Freiburg’s former Archbishop Robert Zollitsch. Zollitsch’s spokesman Marco Mansdörfer confirmed this to the German Press Agency on Thursday. In an expert report on sexual abuse by clergy, the former archbishop and former chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference was accused of not having reported cases to Rome earlier. The “Zeit” supplement “Christ & Welt” previously reported.
The spokesman said that preliminary proceedings were underway with the responsible Vatican authorities. It’s about “whether disciplinary proceedings need to be opened against Dr. Zollitsch at all.” The main question is whether four cases from a long time ago should have been reported. “Former Archbishop Dr. Zollitsch naturally fulfills his obligation to cooperate in the preliminary proceedings and, like all other parties involved, is obliged to remain silent,” said Mansdörfer.
The study by independent experts, published in April, takes stock of the era of Zollitsch, who was in power in the large archdiocese until 2013. The allegations of cover-up were particularly serious – the clergyman headed the German Bishops’ Conference from February 2008 to March 2014 and was therefore the face and voice of the Catholic Church in Germany.
Sanctions can also be threatened in canonical proceedings, as circles in the Catholic Church reported in the spring. In proceedings of this kind in the Vatican, for example, it is possible that payments for social or charitable purposes will be ordered at the end. Procedures before the dicastery (authority) for the doctrine of the faith can therefore also have other consequences – such as the ban on wearing the dignities of the episcopate. Carrying out “priestly services in public” could also be prohibited.
After the expert report, there was silence around the 85-year-old Zollitsch, who no longer holds any office and had remained silent about the allegations in the report. However, the old archbishop returned his Federal Cross of Merit and other high awards. The diocese leadership also decided to hang the portraits of Zollitsch and his late predecessor Oskar Saier in the bishop’s seat.
There is no information about the investigation in the former Archdiocese of Zollitisch, as a spokesman reported upon request in Freiburg. “The case is in Rome.” Archbishop Stephan Burger made it clear in April that the Holy See would have to decide on possible canonical consequences for Zollitsch. With around 1.7 million Catholics, the archdiocese is one of the largest of the 27 dioceses in Germany.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:231109-99-881175/4
#Church #Freiburg #Breisgau #Vatican #examining #disciplinary #proceedings #Zollitsch #Politics
