Hundreds of minors have suffered sexual violence since 1975 in the diocese of Cologne, the largestGermany, according to a report presented this Thursday, March 18, eagerly awaited after the procrastination of the Catholic hierarchy which accentuated the crisis within the Church.
The some 800-page report establishes that 314 minors, mostly boys under the age of 14, suffered sexual violence between 1975 and 2018 at the hands of 202 alleged perpetrators, lawyer Björn Gercke said in a statement. press conference.
About 70% of the alleged perpetrators were members of the clergy, the rest lay people, he detailed. If the latter were sanctioned, this was not the case for priests, he stressed.
A first report remained confidential
It makes me deeply ashamed
, reacted Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, announcing in the wake of the suspension with immediate effect of two members of his diocese implicated for having covered these acts.
No fault could be found against him by the authors of the report.
Actions must also have consequences for members of the clergy
, insisted the cardinal.
This conservative in the ranks of the church had caused an uproar last year by refusing to make public a first report citing breaches and problems of data protection.
The decision aroused the exasperation of the victims, the mass flight of the faithful in his diocese, and the incomprehension of his peers. So much so that the cardinal asked for this new report.
Bishop Woelki’s communication is a desaster
, judged at the end of February the head of the assembly of bishops Georg Bätzing, in an unusually severe criticism.
It is the greatest crisis the Church has ever experienced
, estimated Tim Kurzbach, president of the diocesan council of Cologne, which brings together ecclesiastics and laity.
The controversy arose at a time when the Catholic Church had made some progress in recognizing its fault and compensating the victims.
The Cologne tragedy around the report and the cardinal somewhat masked this aspect
, recently regretted the government commissioner for questions of sexual assault, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig.
Two million fewer faithful compared to 2010
In 2018, a report commissioned by the German Church revealed that 3,677 children or adolescents had been sexually abused since 1946 by over a thousand members of the clergy, most of whom had not been sanctioned.
Without having had access to all the archives, the authors of the study warned that the number of victims was probably higher.
After officially apologizing, the bishops set compensation – deemed insufficient by the victims – up to € 50,000
per person, compared to € 5,000 so far. And each diocese has started an additional local investigation under the supervision of a joint commission.
The Cologne affair also weakened the chances of modernization of the Church currently under discussion within the framework of a synod.
It is also a question of retaining the faithful, who pay a tax in Germany and help to finance charities in particular.
Members of the Catholic Church, which remains the largest denomination in the country, fell to 22.6 million in 2019, down 2 million from 2010, when pedophilia scandals were exposed.
Among the great themes of the Synod, seen with a suspicious eye by Bishop Woelki and the Vatican: celibacy, married priests, a greater place reserved for laity and women.
But any progress will have to receive the blessing of the Pope. Or Tuesday, his services reaffirmed that homosexuality was ” a sin “
, and confirmed the inability of same-sex couples to receive the sacraments of marriage.
This communication is no accident, said Thomas Sternberg, president of the powerful central committee of Catholics, who sees it as a way for Rome to disturb
the reform process in Germany.
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