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The rehabilitation of the management of the Bavarian Benedictine monastery of Ettal by the Vatican has been positively received. The spokesman for the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising, Bernhard Kellner, said on Friday when asked: "Of course we accept Rome's decision".

The abbey published on the same day a letter from the Prefect of the Congregation for Religious Affairs, Cardinal Franc Rode. The apostolic visitation of the monastery on 15. to 24. March had revealed that Abbot Barnabas Bogle and Prior Maurus Krab had made no mistakes in dealing with suspected cases of sexual abuse. Nothing stands in the way of a return of both. Bogle and Krab had resigned from their posts at the end of February at the insistence of the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising. According to the monastery, the new abbot must serve until 31. July to be elected. According to the cardinal's letter, the visitators confirmed that neither Bogle nor Krab had neglected reporting obligations, as had previously been presented by the Munich ordinariate. Rather, Abbot Barnabas had done "everything that was required by the matter". At the same time, Rode's letter reveals that Munich Archbishop Reinhard Marx has no reservations about Bogle and Krab returning to their posts.

Return to office conceivable Diocesan spokesman Kellner pointed out that Bogle and Krab had explained their resignation in a public statement at the beginning of March with the necessity of a "fundamental renewal" of their monastery. They had asked for a "time of inner contemplation and self-reflection" in order to be able to "find a new orientation". In this sense, a return to their offices is conceivable "after the conclusion of all open questions in dealing with abuse cases". On 13. April the final report of the special investigator Thomas Pfister, appointed by the archdiocese, had been published. According to this, children and adolescents were brutally abused, sadistically tortured and sexually abused in the school and boarding school of Ettal monastery for decades until about 1990. Affected were as perpetrators 15 Fathers and far more than 100 victims, it was said at that time. Pfister's mandate ended with the report.

One year ago, the Catholic Church began the Synodal Way on the first day of Advent. Father Bernd Hagenkord, spiritual director of the reform process, looks back on an eventful calendrical stage.

Interviewer: First birthday is a cause for celebration, isn't it?

Father Bernd Hagenkord SJ (Spiritual Director of the Synodal Way): In any case. When we started, we didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into. Now, on the first anniversary, we have realized that our fears were justified. Things turned out quite differently than expected. But I think a first birthday is definitely a reason to celebrate.

Interviewer: What has come differently?

Hagenkord: The Corona pandemic. After all, we had a clear schedule of how something was supposed to happen, when what was going to be met, and what was going to be presented to you. All this could not have happened. We had to postpone all that.

Interviewer: So where does the synodal path stand right now? At what stage would you say it can be located right now??

Hagenkord: I do not know exactly. According to the original plan we are still at the very beginning. But I think we have to consider whether we should readjust the process and plan a different procedure, because it is not foreseeable that everything will change in the next few months.

From that point of view, I would say: We have made a good start. We have started working on texts and initiatives. These four forums were formed. Then there was the first feedback. There were regional conferences. There was intermediate feedback on this. There we are quite good. But we're nowhere near the point where I would say we're on the verge of passing any resolutions, adopting any texts, launching any initiatives.

Interviewer: An important topic of the Synodal Way is, of course, the scandal of sexual abuse in the church. One could get the impression that the church is getting more and more entangled rather than working its way out of it.

Hagenkord: What you can't do is to work out concrete problems with the Synodal Way. I also see this just as catchless as everyone else, although I only hear about it from the media, for example, what is happening in Cologne.

On the other hand, we are talking about authority in the synodal way. We're talking about power in the church, distribution of power, accountability, and so on. You can not do that without not at the same time also look at the abuse of power. Whether that's sexual violence or other forms of abuse, of authority and power. That's why it plays a very important role.

I would agree with you: Examples keep coming to light where this has not worked in the past or in the present. We have to talk about it very clearly, because it can't go on like this. That's not sustainable, what we want to be as a Christian community.

Interviewer: Let's take a look at Rome. One has the feeling that stonewalling is also taking place there. The pope, for example, said Wednesday that he doesn't think much of this "Synodal Way". Did you have to swallow there when you heard this?

Hagenkord: I had to swallow at first, because he also clearly says "synodal way". But the pope formulates sometimes also somewhat wood-cut-like. You have to look more closely at what he said there. And what he does not want is a decision-making process that is detached from the spiritual foundations. I also find it a bit strange that he criticizes democratic decision-making above all else.

But what he wants is that it's not just about majorities, it's not just about voting, it has to be a spiritual journey. It must be a spiritual process. It must have to do with prayer. When I look at what we are doing with the Synodal Way, then we are not that far away from the Pope's basic concern. That's where I would say, although he says "synodical way" and criticizes the. But that doesn't really reflect what we do in Germany.

Interviewer: So would you say that the spiritual process is still in good shape, that is, taking the Gospel seriously, for example, or the spiritual message behind it??

Hagenkord: In any case. When I look at the participants, when I talk to them, this is a huge concern behind everything we do. This is not a club that meets there, but in fact everyone comes with a deep spiritual concern. I would definitely say that.

On the other hand, it is of course lasting discussion, how we implement this and how this is implemented in the methodology. There, I don't think we're really at a point yet where I would say we're in agreement and the clerical is really an integral part of what we're doing. Coffee breaks and prayers always suffer terribly because something else important comes up. There we still have to learn that, for example, such things as interruptions are just as important as speeches. We are still working on it. But all in all, this is also part of the process. And I think it's good that it's a topic, that it's being talked about and that we're developing it further.

Interviewer: Are you still confident that this Synodal Way will steer the Catholic Church in Germany into a hopeful future??

Hagenkord: In the sense that we don't know at all where the synodal path is coming from. Especially with Corona, everything we had thought about was shot to pieces again. That is a risk. This is an openness. But I am very open, optimistic and confident about it.

The interview was conducted by Verena Troster.

From the 1950s to the 1980s, there came to be in St. Blasien on violence and abuse. At least 30 victims are to be amed – so far the facts one year after the abuse scandal at the renowned Jesuit college came to light. Time for a closing point then?

Everyday school life continues. The Abitur exams are coming up soon. And before College Director Johannes Siebner reports on how the acts of abuse by Catholic priests that have gradually come to light since January 2010 have affected the College of St. Joseph. Blasien, he quickly inquires about the newly installed soccer field: "Is it really the case that the artificial turf can be played on again quickly even after rain??"

Despite all normality, a visit to the renowned Black Forest boarding school St. Blasien quickly realized that the reappraisal and confrontation with abuse and cover-up have by no means come to an end. In the meantime it is clear, as the external investigator Ursula Raue has recorded, that from the 1950s to the 1980s there was violence and abuse at the Jesuit College. At least 30 victims are to be amed. Only a few days ago, the public prosecutor's office discontinued its investigations, as all acts are statute-barred under criminal law. Time for a closing point then?

"There are now words for what was previously unspeakable"
College principal Siebner, but also parent representatives and teachers vehemently disagree. The most important lesson to be learned from the abuse cases is the greatest possible transparency and an end to taboo and speechlessness in matters of sexuality, violence and border crossings. And Siebner is certain that much has been achieved in the past year. "There are now words for what was previously unspeakable, that is the change."

High school graduate Marie-Sophie Grunewalder confirms: "Every student knows who to turn to. There are contacts we trust."The new display case in the school hallway lists points of contact: School chaplain, guidance counselor, school psychologist, high school guidance counselor, and a reference to "Wendepunkt," an outside counseling service that also advises teachers during continuing education events.

Christian Spitz, chairman of the parents' association and pediatrician, knows from his own practice: "I'm afraid that we can't eliminate abuse from the world. More than five percent of all children are victims of abuse."That's why it's important to him to break the taboos and silence structures in schools. "We must not let up, and must address the uncomfortable topic again and again."Children should be empowered to say no when boundaries are crossed.

At the same time, one year after the acts were uncovered, it is clear that for most students the scandal has long since receded into the background. "That was then quickly no longer an ie," says student spokesman Johannes von Gumppenberg. And guidance counselor Georg Leber says: "Although the news about abuse hit like a bomb. But it quickly became clear that this dark past could not shake the confidence in the school today."

Lay new registrations
In view of the scandal, it sounds surprising: no student was deregistered from the college, new registrations rather increased. When Leber gives information about the college at the surrounding elementary schools, he has to face many questions from parents – but no one wants to know anything about the abuse cases.

One reason for the continuing parental trust: The Jesuit order has apparently succeeded in making it clear that in the year
in 2010, there could be no more cover-ups and a policy of providing information in tidbits. Father Klaus Mertes from Canisius College in Berlin and Father Siebner in St. Blasien dealt openly with the cases, which cast such dark shadows on their order and their schools.

"It was clear to me from the beginning that there could be no alternative to painful disclosure of all the facts," Siebner says. Even if this did not always meet with approval within the church and the word of the nest-destroyers made the rounds: the college is reaping the fruits of this policy today.

But one shadow remains. Because the pressing question of the victims, why there is still no agreement on recognition payments, can also Siebner not satisfactorily answer. Although he clearly advocates that the church should go ahead with a four-digit sum as a "symbolic act of atonement". His vague hope that a solution for the whole church will be found "very soon" is not enough for the victims.

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