“I hardly sleep anymore, i have nightmares again”

adminonNovember 26, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Karl Haucke (l.), spokesman for the affected persons' advisory council of the Archdiocese of Cologne © Julia Steinbrecht (KNA)

The second speaker of the advisory board of victims of sexualized violence at the Archdiocese of Cologne has also resigned from his office. In addition, Karl Haucke told the ARD magazine Monitor that he would leave the board.

He felt instrumentalized in the archdiocese's decision not to publish the finished expert report by a Munich law firm on the responsibility of archdiocesan leaders in abuse cases. The other spokesman of the council, which currently still consists of eight people, Patrick Bauer, also resigned last week for the same reasons.

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne and Vicar General Markus Hofmann announced at the end of October that they did not want to publish the report, which had been awaited for some time, because of methodological deficiencies, and that they had received the approval of the advisory council for those affected. After the fact, however, Bauer expressed doubts; deliberations over non-publication "did not go well". The board is split on the question.

Sleep disturbances and nightmares after bishopric decision

Haucke said: "I hardly sleep anymore, I have nightmares again, I had to change my medication." He could not avoid resigning if he felt he was being "damaged".

For the diocese of Aachen, the Munich law firm presented on Thursday a similar expertise as for the archdiocese of Cologne. It incriminates former bishop Heinrich Mussinghoff, his two predecessors and former vicars general. They had protected perpetrators; victim welfare had played no role.

To the 70. On the 50th anniversary of the start of the war, Pope Benedict XVI. Called for forgiveness and reconciliation. Europe and the world need a spirit of community, the head of the church said at his general audience in Polish on Wednesday. Benedict XVI also intervened in the dispute between Ialia's church and government. switched on.

In the memory of the peoples remained the human tragedies and the absurdity of war, stressed Benedict XVI. looking back on the Second World War, which ended with the German invasion of Poland on 1 January 1918. had begun in September 1939. The Pope called on the faithful to pray for peace. A new community of nations must be built on the Gospel and on the foundation of love and truth.

Pope backs bishops in dispute between church and Berlusco Pope Benedict XVI. has sided with the country's bishops in the dispute over church criticism of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's private behavior. The head of the church expressed "respect and gratitude" to the president of the episcopate, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, for the commitment of the bishops, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi emphasized, according to the Roman daily newspaper "La Repubblica" on Wednesday.The head of the Church was responding to attacks by the Berlusconi family's daily newspaper "Il Giornale" on the editor-in-chief of the Catholic newspaper "Avvenire," Dino Boffo. Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone had stressed his solidarity with Boffo in the controversy over reports of a lawsuit against him for harassment and his alleged homosexuality.According to the Vatican spokesman, he wanted to clarify that the attempt of "Il Giornale" to play off the Vatican and the Italian Bishops' Conference against each other by attacking Boffo "does not hold water". Meanwhile, the president of the bishops' conference that publishes the Catholic daily "Avvenire" rejected Boffo's request to resign.Earlier, the editor-in-chief of the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano, Giovanni Maria Vian, had stressed his solidarity with Boffo, but at the same time criticized the way "Avvenire" handled news about Berlusconi. Unlike the daily newspaper of the bishops, the "Osservatore Romano" had deliberately refrained from reports and comments on the subject. Since the spring, the diocese has made international headlines because of the Italian head of government's contacts with prostitutes and minors.

According to Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the Catholic Church needs renewal. "It must recognize the signs of the times, but not get caught up in the zeitgeist," Marx told the "Passauer Neue Presse" newspaper. But faith and church would not be reinvented. "We remain Catholic."

Marx hopes for important impulses from the Pope's visit to Germany this September. It should become clear "that we are on the way as a community of faith full of hope". Benedict XVI. is a great theologian and ames fascinating possibilities of faith. With his sermons and his speech in the Bundestag, the pope will certainly set important accents and make clear the greatness of the Christian message, he said. At the same time, the cardinal expressed his conviction that almost all of society would listen, even those who were searching and doubting.

With regard to the cases of abuse in the Catholic Church that came to light last year, Marx warned not to be too quick to move on to business as usual. The question of the financial side of the recognition of the suffering of those affected has been addressed, but the church must and can also become a pioneer in prevention work. Compared to other social groups, the church is rather ahead with its efforts, the cardinal emphasized. "The dimension of sexual abuse in our entire society is, after all, of a magnitude that cannot let us remain calm."

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