A year ago, a sensational report on cases of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising was published. What has happened in the diocese since then? The Archbishop of Munich, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, wants to provide information about this today.
According to the diocese, the main question in Munich is what has been done since then to further process the cases and help those affected. “On the whole, a lot has happened,” says Richard Kick, the chairman of the diocese’s Advisory Board for Affected Persons, of the German Press Agency. “We see – after an initial, suspicious eye – a sustainable cooperation with the diocese administration.”
Further appraisal required
He still considers the cases brought up by the report to be the tip of the iceberg. “We are asking for another report for those institutions that are not diocesan but are still church,” said Kick. “Nothing is happening there yet. I think that’s where most of the cases were – among other things in the religious orders, in the children’s homes.”
The report commissioned by the diocese from a Munich law firm caused a worldwide sensation when it was presented in January 2022. The study assumes at least 497 victims and 235 alleged perpetrators – and from a much larger number of unreported cases.
The report accused the former Archbishops Friedrich Wetter and Joseph Ratzinger, and Pope Benedict XVI, who died on New Year’s Eve, of personal misconduct in several cases – as did the current Archbishop, Cardinal Reinhard Marx.
More than a hundred new clues
Since the report was published, the Catholic dioceses in Bavaria received more than a hundred new indications of suspected cases by the end of 2022. The dioceses in the Free State counted at least 116 reports this year, according to a dpa survey. In the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising alone, 54 new reports were received between publication and the end of November. According to a spokesman, this also includes “border violations that do not fall within the area of sexual abuse and known cases of abuse”.
“The reporting on the publication of the abuse report in the Archdiocese of Munich has certainly encouraged many there to get in touch,” said Matthias Katsch, spokesman for the “Eckiger Tisch” victims’ initiative.
Kick now also sees the state as having a duty – especially when it comes to cases in children’s and youth facilities. “We also need state intervention now.” He called for the establishment of a professional body that would look at the issue of abuse in institutions throughout Bavaria.
