Acquitted of the charge

adminonDecember 6, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Insignia of secular jurisdiction: Justitia and piles of files. © Volker Hartmann

The public prosecutor's office in Tubingen has dropped proceedings against 22 clergymen on charges of sexual abuse in the Rottenburg-Stuttgart diocese. Lawyers had filed criminal charges against unknown persons in all dioceses.

The Tubingen public prosecutor's office has closed abuse investigations against 22 clergy members of the Catholic Church in the area of the Rottenburg-Stuttgart diocese. In the 22 cases there had been no criminally relevant conduct or the cases were time-barred, the diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart announced the decision of the public prosecutor's office on Tuesday. No case had involved the accusation of "serious sexual abuse".

Diocese signaled "full willingness to cooperate"

The diocese had "immediately upon request handed over the relevant files" and "signaled full willingness to cooperate," the prosecutor's office said Tuesday. Afterwards it concerned files, which had been predominantly the subject of the processing by the diocesan commission sexual abuse. According to the diocese, this involved the files of all living accused persons.

According to the prosecutor's office, none of the cases involved serious sexual abuse of children; ten cases involved sexual abuse of children, eight of which were time-barred. In one case there was no criminally relevant conduct, in one case there was an acquittal in court. In the eight cases of accusations of sexual abuse of juveniles, seven were time-barred and in one case there was no criminally relevant conduct.

Abuse study of the German Bishops' Conference

In connection with the so-called MHG study, criminal charges were filed in October 2018 with prosecutors nationwide against unknown persons on suspicion of sexual abuse and aggravated sexual abuse of children between 1946 and 2014.

In September, the German Bishops' Conference had published the MHG study for the period between 1946 and 2014. According to this, in these years nationwide 1.670 clerics perpetrated on minors. Alleged victims were 3.677 children and adolescents, predominantly boys.

Within the first six months, 372 people have called the telephone hotline for former children of Catholic institutions. There were a total of 642 telephone consultations, the German Bishops' Conference announced in Bonn on Wednesday.

The Catholic Church launched the counseling service at the beginning of January to help former institutionalized children come to terms with their painful experiences in church-run homes. In the 1950s and 1960s, some 300.000 children and young people in catholic mechanisms accommodated. Those affected can talk on the phone with counselors trained in therapy and pastoral care about their experiences during their stay in the home. The bishops' conference also said that the accounts provide the church with authentic information about the actual conditions in home education at the time and the concerns of those involved.
Corporal punishment and chastisement Nearly 87 percent of callers reported being in shelters themselves, and 76 percent used the hotline to talk it out. 21 percent wanted the mediation of file inspection, and 19 percent were looking for a contact person to reconstruct their biography during their stay at the home. 17 percent of callers asked for further advice, with just under 17 percent asking about possible compensation. As reasons for suffered injustice in homes gave almost 72 percent physical punishment and chastisement, 56 percent spoke of devaluation of their person, about 45 percent criticized the rigid discipline and 42 percent complained of humiliation. Almost 30 percent spoke of being stigmatized as a home child. Around 18 percent of those affected said they had been sexually abused by adults in the home, and just under 13 percent reported being sexually assaulted by other children in the home.

Forced religious practice 25 percent of callers complained of experiencing forced religious practice, and 31 percent described a discrepancy between Christian values and daily parenting practices. Just under seven percent of the callers came forward to talk explicitly about good experiences during their time as children in the home. Overall, it appeared that the hotline was perceived as a helpful service, the bishops' conference said. Affected persons would find it a useful interface with institutions such as religious orders and homes. The nationwide hotline for former children in care is a service offered by the Marriage, Family and Life Counseling Service in the Archdiocese of Cologne on behalf of the German Bishops' Conference.

Notice: The telephone hotline at 0180 4100 400 is available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9.00 to 18.00 o'clock attainable.

The celibacy debate must not be allowed to continue, according to the words of Curia Cardinal em. Walter Kasper "not to become a paralyzing permanent discussion". He, too, had argued 40 years ago for a review of mandatory priestly celibacy.

But it has long since taken place at three world synods of bishops and led to clear results, Kasper writes in an article for the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" (Friday) on the memorandum of reform-oriented Catholic theologians. The old arguments for the abolition of celibacy could not simply be repeated in view of these results.

Kasper also rejected the demand for the ordination of married men, so-called viri probati, to counteract the shortage of priests. It stands for a hopeless and futureless and thus false conservatism. However, the large-scale consolidation of parish units could not be the solution. Kasper went on to say that the very churches that have opted for women's ordination and recognition of same-sex couples "are in a much deeper crisis than the Catholic Church for this very reason".

Overall, the memorandum, which currently has 228 signatories, "disappointed him beyond measure," said Kasper, who was president of the Vatican Council for Promoting Christian Unity until the middle of last year. He missed a substantial contribution; from theologians he had "expected more". No one in his right mind would deny that the Catholic Church "is in dire need of a new beginning". The demand for a different inner-church legal culture is also correct. The current church crisis, however, was a consequence of the crisis of God in society and was not primarily due to the church's capture. The decisive question is "the testimony of faith in the world of today. Instead of "superficially turning the adjusting screw of celibacy," there is a need for a "radical renewal" of this faith.

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