On the nationwide telephone hotline of the Catholic Church for victims of sexual abuse, which was switched on Tuesday, 162 calls were made on the first day already. Bishop Stephan Ackermann is now in favor of a uniform capture of abuse cases.
"I already have in mind a joint inventory of all dioceses with nationwide statistics," said the abuse commissioner of the Bishops' Conference to the "Frankfurter Rundschau" on Wednesday (31.03.2010). From this to create a permanent documentation, he said, is conceivable. Meanwhile, Ackermann's diocese reported a great response to the Catholic Church's counseling hotline for victims of abuse, which went live on Tuesday. The service, supported by the bishops' conference, is run in cooperation with the life counseling service in the diocese of Trier. In the future, the hotline will always be open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m.30 a.m. available. 162 conversations According to those responsible, on the day of the release, there were 4.459 Attempts to call. It can be amed that around 1.000 different callers, as several attempts per caller would have to be amed. 162 talks had been held. These would have taken between five minutes and an hour to complete. In the first place, victims and their relatives had come forward. The assessment that the offer would not be accepted was thus refuted, it was said. The response to the offer of online counseling, on the other hand, has so far been reserved. In the interview with the "Frankfurter Rundschau", the bishop of Trier at the same time pointed out the limits of his office. The bishops' conference, she said, is not a legal body, but a working body. As abuse commissioner, he said, he has a mandate to prepare a revision of the guidelines, set up an office and oversee the hotline for abuse victims. "Everything else will be seen."
"Coverage in the media helpful" A call to the telephone helpline is not automatically associated with legal consequences, Ackermann clarified. "There is no obligation to report." Victims should remain in control of what is happening. "So exactly in contrast to their experience of abuse, where they were under someone else's control."Of course, the counselors would recommend criminal charges, however, where it seemed appropriate to them to do so. Bishop called media coverage helpful. It is good that now so extensively about the topic is informed. "This lowers the shame threshold for victims."