“I am merely the interpreter”

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Must a priest who learns of crimes in confession alert authorities? Cologne Auxiliary Bishop Dominikus Schwaderlapp says no, it would violate religious freedom. Because with the confession it does not concern worldly justice.

Interviewer: The Vatican's Penitential Court stressed in an official note: No government or law can desecrate the sacrament of confession. The Vatican has thus once again reaffirmed the inviolability of the seal of confession. What do you think about it?

Dominikus Schwaderlapp (Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne ): It is right, good and necessary to re-emphasize the secrecy of confession. Confession is not just any conversation between a pastor and someone who has a concern. It is about the immediate relationship with God, about reconciliation with Jesus Christ. This is something very personal, where God himself acts and the priest only lends Christ his voice. That is why the priest has a very subordinate task here. It's all about this direct relationship, and no other person has anything to do with it.

Interviewer: But shouldn't there be some kind of special rules when someone reports a crime – such as sexual abuse or murder?

Schwaderlapp: No, this is about the reconciliation of a person – who sees that he has done something wrong – with God. He repents, he wants to improve and he wants to tell this to God. And so that this can be heard by people, there is the sacrament of penance, in which Christ lends his voice, so to speak, to a person, a priest, so that he can act through him. It is about what the apostle Paul already said: Be reconciled to God.

This is not about coming to terms with crimes. This is not about a worldly justice and jurisdiction. This is about God's justice and mercy. This is a completely different dimension. If the secrecy of confession were not there, then one would have a hard time or not go to this sacrament at all. And confession can also be the way for further steps, which later also lead to a public reappraisal. But again: These are completely different steps.

Interviewer: On the part of the Vatican court it is said that the confessional secrecy is not comparable with the professional secrecy of doctors or lawyers, for example. Why not?

Schwaderlapp: The professional secret is yes protection of a professional group, so that personality rights are preserved and these do not penetrate into the public. Confession is not about personal rights. This is about religion. It is an act of religious freedom that is respected here. It is my freedom to go to confession as a Christian and my freedom as a priest to believe that in this sacrament Jesus Christ himself is at work and I am not authorized to say that to another. This is not about a human, but about a divine realm – about religious freedom. And this is now a high good, which is respected or should be respected in all free democracies of this world.

Interviewer: The Court's note says: "Any political or legal initiative against the inviolability of the seal of confession would be a violation of religious freedom as well as of the confessor's freedom of conscience. Can you explain this loyalty to the confessor?

Schwaderlapp: Again, it is not about my relationship as a priest to the confessor. The confessor has a relationship with God. I am only an interpreter. This is also the end of my role, my task. It is a matter of loyalty to God.

The interview was conducted by Carsten Dopp.

It has clearly become quieter around the topic of sexual abuse. But now it is again pushing with power on the agenda. A day after the Jesuits' final report, the federal government unveiled a new nationwide hotline for abuse victims.

Victims of sexual abuse have been able to call the hotline since Friday (28).05.2010) seek advice and help from a telephone counseling service set up by the federal government. The federal government's commissioner for abuse, Christine Bergmann, launched the telephone helpline in Berlin. A total of 65 experts take the calls of those affected or their relatives.At present the telephone is switched on 30 hours per week, so Bergmann further. But depending on demand, counseling hours could be extended or shortened. Bergmann pointed out that she had taken into account the experience of the Catholic Church's hotline when setting up the contact point. Abuse commissioners also launch their own homepage this afternoon. The contact point should give those affected the opportunity to talk about the injustice done to them, according to the abuse commissioner. Their reports, all of which would be treated anonymously, should help formulate concrete demands to politicians. The experts are supposed to refer callers to further help, but they do not provide therapeutic or legal advice themselves, Bergmann said. The office of the government commissioner was created in March after hundreds of cases of sexual violence against children and adolescents in church and other educational institutions became known. So far, she has received about 500 reports by mail, and just as many by e-mail, the former federal family minister said. More men than women have come forward. Most were abused in institutions, especially those of the Catholic Church, Bergmann says. On the basis of the accounts heard so far, she is already pleading for serious consideration of lifting the statutes of limitations. The Ulm physician Jorg M. Fegert, who evaluates the calls scientifically, said the contact point offers the socially unique chance to ask those affected and to make a political difference. But none of the callers was questioned. He announced that initial experiences would be reported in August.

Experiences of the Bishops' Conference With regard to the church hotline, the German Bishops' Conference speaks of a huge wave of callers, which is now slowly leveling off to the previously expected normal level. According to Andreas Zimmer, head of the counseling services division at the diocese of Trier, more than 20 have so far been.000 calls registered. 6.000 people would have sought contact; there were more than 2.200 counseling sessions and another 160 online counseling sessions. Exact figures on how many of the callers were victims of mistreatment or sexual abuse in church institutions are not yet available. "Initially, an estimated three-quarters of callers were victims or their relatives," Zimmer estimates. In the course of the past few weeks, however, the number of joke calls and general complaints about the church has increased sharply. In the meantime, the number of calls is also dropping significantly: while the advisers took around 200 calls per four-hour shift in the first few weeks, the number is now down to 20 to 30.

Clarification among Jesuits Further clarification on the subject of abuse was provided by the Jesuits: The provincial of the German Jesuits, Father Stefan Dartmann, presented the final report on the abuse cases in the order in Munich on Thursday – together with the abuse commissioner Ursula Raue. The "Corner Table," created in reference to the German government's "Round Tables," of former students of Germany's four Jesuit high schools, is scheduled to meet Saturday in Berlin with representatives of Jesuit. Among others, Provincial Dartmann will be present from the side of the Order, as well as his designated successor Stefan Kiechle and the rectors of the Berlin Canisius College, Klaus Mertes, and of the College of Saint Blasien, Johannes Siebner.

According to media reports, more than 90 U.S. Boy Scouts of America have filed a complaint against the organization.000 accusations of sexual abuse received. According to victim, abuse was part of everyday life in some groups.

Monday was the last day for those affected to make claims for compensation in the ongoing "Boy Scouts" bankruptcy proceedings.

There are 92.700 lawsuits before

Victim advocate Andrew Van Arsdale said Monday night (local time), according to the CNN television network, there are at least 92 lying in bankruptcy court.700 lawsuits before. Faced with the threat of lawsuits, the "Boy Scouts" had filed for insolvency in February to ensure their continued existence and to set up a compensation fund.

The horror is great

The association has a "social and moral responsibility to adequately compensate all victims," according to the organization's website. Victims are believed and appalled that innocent children were abused in Boy Scout programs. Since its founding in 1910, more than 130 million children and young people have joined the organization, according to Boy Scouts.

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