“Catastrophic failure”

adminonNovember 30, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Symbolic image of abuse in the church © Andreas Gebert

The final hearing on the Catholic Church's handling of sexual abuse cases in Australia has ended in Sydney. The bishops acknowledged a "catastrophic failure" in dealing with suspected cases.

"I will do everything in my power to ensure that abuse like that in the past never happens again and that the reforms that my fellow bishops and the leaders of religious orders have agreed to in recent years are implemented," said the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne. Church in Australia will continue to support victims, he said.

Did the structure of the church contribute to the scandal??

Over the past three weeks, the commission had questioned more than 70 witnesses, including various bishops, about the church's handling of abuse cases. The final hearing focused on the extent to which clericalism and the hierarchical structure of the church contributed to the widespread scandal. In addition, the commission wanted to know from the witnesses what measures, structures and protective mechanisms the church will take to exclude sexual abuse of children in the future.

Among the most moving moments of the hearing was Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen's admission of having been sexually abused by a priest himself as a young man after arriving in Australia as a boat refugee from Vietnam. Bishop Long spoke out clearly against the current hierarchical structures of the church. Titles, privileges and the "institutional dynamics in the church" are a breeding ground for "clerical superiority and elitism," Long said.

Final report expected in December

At the start of the hearing in early February, the commission had released data on the extent of abuse in the Catholic Church. According to this, the church received reports of 4.444 people about cases in the period between 1980 and 2015 a. The average age of victims had been 10 for girls and 11 for boys. At 90 percent, however, boys were by far the largest victim group.

The commission to investigate the handling of abuse cases by secular institutions, churches and religious communities had been set up by the Australian government in 2013. The final report is expected in December.

The sexual abuse scandal has shaken the Catholic Church. But she is doing something about it: Well over 220.000 people have already been trained on the topic in NRW alone and thus made aware of the ie.

The thirty-year-old employee talks to the twelve-year-old girl. Both seem cheerful, laughing. But then the woman starts playing with the girl's hair, which makes her uncomfortable. The 12-year-old becomes quiet and rigid, but the woman smiles pensively. Was this already a form of sexual violence, of crossing boundaries??

The case is an example of the kind used in prevention training by the Catholic Church to raise awareness among employees. At the latest with the MHG abuse study of the Bishops' Conference from last September, the extent of sexual violence in the church became clear: 1.670 clerics have been accused of committing around 3.677 children and young people sexually abused in different ways.

Church has addressed the problem

The church addressed the problem, even before the study was published. In all dioceses, training has been taking place for several years, aimed at clergy, but also at kindergarten teachers, teachers or office workers. The focus is on sexual violence and transgressive behavior, such as unwanted touching.

This is often the beginning, says family therapist Ruth Habeland, who gives training courses in the Archdiocese of Cologne. "We want to sensitize people through prevention training," says the prevention officer in the Archdiocese of Cologne, Manuela Rottgen.

The NRW bishoprics of Aachen, Essen, Cologne, Munster and Paderborn have coordinated their training measures. This was done on the basis of the prevention regulations, which are identical in the NRW dioceses. There, the development of a uniform, binding protection standard is anchored.

For example, the dioceses require the presentation of an extended certificate of good conduct as well as participation in prevention training every five years. Depending on how much the people to be trained are in contact with children, they are taught over hours or days.

Already committed to basic training at an earlier stage

Already more than five years ago, all employees were obliged to attend the basic training course. At the time, many felt under general suspicion. When the in-depth training sessions were due, no one in the dioceses voiced any more concerns, as many employees asked about specific ies that they are confronted with particularly frequently in everyday life.

"How can I recognize whether a child is affected by sexual violence??", is one of the most frequently asked questions, Habeland explains. She doesn't have a clear answer to that question, but there are signs: speech or contact disorders, depression, low self-esteem and some more. An information booklet on prevention in the Archdiocese of Cologne provides information on this subject.

The booklet does not have an all-purpose solution either, but at least it offers hints and advice. Age-appropriate and appreciative language should be chosen, physical contact must be consensual, appropriate and age-appropriate, he said. And above all: listen and be attentive.

An abused child has to turn to an average of seven people before he or she meets someone who listens, believes or helps him or her. Some give up before they find a sympathetic ear.

Victim initiative pays tribute

Recognition for the training courses comes from the spokesman for the "Eckiger Tisch" victims' initiative, Matthias Katsch. The efforts of employees in Catholic Church institutions to reduce the risks of sexual violence against children are "enormous and exemplary," says Katsch.

"However, there are at least indications that this is not true to the same extent for the group of clergy, at least not in all dioceses."It criticizes the sluggish processing. Without it, prevention "threatens to get stuck at the purely formal level".

Training participants understood the importance. "Many people have become more confident in taking action," Habeland summed up after one of the events. Aachen prevention officer Almuth Gruner also reports that many participants were ultimately surprised by how much they took away with them.

For the first time, the TV show "Hit the Star" on ProSieben for the duel of the sexes. So in the next ie on 8. December the singer Sarah Lombardi against the rapper Eko Fresh to.

In the previous show "Beat the Raab" there were ten duels between a woman and presenter Stefan Raab – even in the first edition at the end of September 2006. But only one woman could win against Raab. As with "Schlag den Raab," celebrities compete in quiz and sports competitions on "Schlag den Star.

Duel Sarah Lombardi against Eko Fresh still open

How the duel between Lombardi and Fresh will go seems to be still open. After the announcement of the channel ProSieben on Twitter, however, some worried about an arguably much more important question: what happened to Alessio? This is how the Telekom subsidiary Magenta TV tweeted: "The main thing is that Allessio is fine," alluding to the son of Sarah and Pietro Lombardi.

The Lombardis, who met during their time together on "Deutschland sucht den Superstar," have since separated. After the separation, many fans of the two then worried about their common son and shared this in hundreds of messages on social networks. Sarah Lombardi's former partner has also taken part in "Schlag den Star". The result: Pietro Lombardi fails all along the line.

For Sarah Lombardi it is not the first appearance in a TV duel. So she competed in the RTL show "Let's Dance" in 2016 and came in second place.

For Lombardi as well as for the rapper Eko Fresh (real name Ekrem Bora) the recording of the show will be a home game. Both were born in Cologne. Eko Fresh is also no stranger to celebrity duels on television. He already participated in Stefan Raab's WOK WM and his Autoball WM. (ac)

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