The Catholic Church in Norway has confirmed abuse allegations against the former bishop of Trondheim. Georg Muller, who comes from Germany, had already confessed to the sexual abuse of a minor in 2009, the bishop of Oslo, Bernt Eidsvig announced.
he incident, which is time-barred under Norwegian criminal law, was also the real reason for Muller's resignation in the summer of 2009, said Eidsvig, who continues to officiate in Trondheim as apostolic administrator. Since then, Muller has not carried out any pastoral activities.
Compensation for the sacrifice According to media reports Muller was at the time of the crime more than 20 years ago already active as a priest in Trondheim. The victim, who is now about 30 years old and was an altar boy at the time, reportedly received compensation from the church of between 400.000 and 500.000 kronor, the equivalent of about 50.000 to 65.000 euros. Eidsvig further announced that the Apostolic Nunciature in the Swedish capital Stockholm was entrusted with clarifying the incident last year. Finally, on Tuesday, he received from the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican, Cardinal William Levada, "the difficult task" of informing the public about the entire process. However, additional details about the case would not be disclosed at the request of the victim. Muller's other abuses are not known, he said. It is the practice of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to make information about abuse cases public only with the consent of the victims, the Vatican statement said.
Acts concealed Muller, who comes from Volkesfeld, near Trier, had been in charge of the territorial prelature in central Norway, with its approximately 2.Led 500 Catholics as apostolic administrator since 1988 and as bishop since 1997. In the summer of 2009, he resigned from the post. At the time, the Vatican referred to a provision of church law that requires a bishop to resign if he is "no longer quite able to carry out his official duties" for health or other serious reasons. Muller was appointed on 7. Born in June 1951, he joined the Arnstein Fathers in 1972. After studies at the Simpelveld religious center in the Netherlands and in Munster, he was ordained priest in 1978. In 1981 he came to the prelature of Trondheim, the following year he became vicar general. In regions with low numbers of Catholics, the Vatican usually does not establish dioceses, but lower structures such as vicariates or prelatures. Like Trondheim, Tromsoe, further north, has the rank of territorial prelature. In contrast, the church district of the capital Oslo has the status of a diocese.