The long road from word to deed

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View of Dresden © TTstudio (shutterstock)

In 2015, the diocese of Dresden-Meissen called on its parishes to develop "institutional protection concepts" as part of prevention work against sexual violence. A research on the implementation is sobering.

The handling of the case of a priest and multiple abuser who died 50 years ago is causing unrest in the Dresden-Meissen diocese. In addition to the lack of a process at the parish level, which is now being tackled on the initiative of a parish deputy, research into the case also revealed deficiencies in the current measures to prevent abuse in the diocese.

Concept drafting had been planned until mid-2016

Specifically, a so-called Institutional Protection Plan, in which every parish in the diocese was to spell out all of its measures to prevent sexual violence. The goal is to promote a culture of mindfulness to reduce the risk of church facilities becoming crime scenes of abuse.

In January 2015, Vicar General Andreas Kutschke ied the implementing regulations on how each parish must draft its protection concept under the diocese's prevention order. Until the 30. June 2016, according to the report, each parish had to have developed such a concept and submitted it to the diocese's prevention officer.

Goal still missed

However, even four and a half years after the deadline has passed, this target is still far from being reached, as a survey of all parishes by the Catholic News Agency (KNA) showed. According to it 16 of 37 parishes have so far still no presentable protection concept. Among them is the cathedral parish Sankt Trinitatis in Dresden.

The state of affairs in the Sorbian part of the diocese is also striking: only the cathedral parish of Bautzen has a protection concept, the six other Sorbian parishes have not yet been able to show any efforts.

New attempt since January

Since the journalistic investigations from mid-January, however, there has been movement on the matter in the Episcopal Ordinariate in Dresden. Vicar General Kutschke is preparing the publication of a decision that by the end of May the remaining 21 parishes "in any case at least a basic concept" must create and invite the parish public to continue working on it, the diocese said.

At a full-day abuse prevention training for diocesan leaders on 19. January the state of affairs had been raised last. "The unsatisfactory state of work of the protection concept creation in several parishes has thereby again and drastically become aware," the diocese acknowledged. Currently, it is being examined whether a reduction of the parish subsidy would be legally possible "as a last resort" in case of non-compliance.

"Dangerous obstacle"

Kutschke, who has been in office as the diocese's chief administrative officer since 2013, expressed "personal disappointment". For him, it was clear "that catching the ie requires the realization that sexual abuse could also occur in one's own parish. Not admitting and acknowledging this realization seems to me to be a dangerous obstacle."

Nevertheless, the question arises what the diocese has done so far to ensure and verify that the parishes create protection concepts. The 2015 prevention regulations state that the first task of the diocesan prevention officer is to "advise and coordinate the development and implementation of institutional protection concepts". How it turned out in reality should thus not have gone unnoticed.

Was the prere too high?

In 2016, only three parishes in the diocese had submitted a protection concept on time. The diocese explained to it now, the period of one and a half years fixed at that time had "perhaps the obviously necessary consciousness formation too strongly faded out".

The diocese cites a "conflict of goals" between an effective protection concept and timely enforcement: Experts warn "that 'prere' on this ie leads at best to formal compliance with the requirement. However, an institutional protection concept needs broad-based participation, awareness-raising and development of a culture of mindfulness in the parish."

Now it remains to be seen with what awareness of the problem the defaulting parishes in the next three months their "awareness raising" in terms of prevention, which was mandated to them six years ago, to advance.

"Being pastorally present where it is difficult": Bavaria's bishops want to provide pastoral care to Christian refugees in anchor centers. They also advocate more lay involvement and tougher guidelines in abuse cases.

The Catholic Office of Bavaria had been commissioned, together with the Evangelical Lutheran Church, to hold talks with the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior. The president of the Freising Bishops' Conference, Reinhard Cardinal Marx, said Thursday in Munich at the conclusion of the fall plenary session.

The pastoral offer is to be made deliberately ecumenical, Marx stressed. "We want to be pastorally present in places where it is difficult."Marx hopes that the new state government will shape integration and that those who integrate well will be able to stay.

Church's position on refugee policy had not changed after election. In addition, every government that sets out on its path "will be accompanied by us in prayer," the cardinal said.

Cooperate with prosecutors in abuse cases

Further, Catholic dioceses naturally want to cooperate with prosecutors on abuse ies. All bishops agree on this, said Reinhard Cardinal Marx on Thursday in Munich at the end of the autumn plenary session of the Freising Bishops' Conference.

The background is a complaint filed by professors with several public prosecutor's offices in Germany against unknown persons as a result of the "Study on sexual abuse of minors by clergy in the area of the German Bishops' Conference" published in September.

With regard to the topic of abuse, there has been a "growing development of knowledge in church and society" over the years. For example, he said, the guidelines adopted by the German Bishops' Conference in 2002 were tightened again in 2010 and are more oriented toward the victims.

For the German Bishops' Conference, of which the Munich cardinal is also chairman, further questions arose in the near future. For example, it must be clarified what "coming to terms with the past" means, also with regard to the victims, and whether it is sufficient to look at the files or whether more needs to be done.

Another point is independence, Marx explained. For observers wanted to know from the church: "Can we still believe you??"The cardinal admitted that he does not yet know what measures need to be taken in this regard.

Intensify exchange with laity

Furthermore, the Bavarian Catholic bishops want to intensify the exchange with the laity. "We would like to see critical accompaniment of the laity," Marx explained. Without strong and trusting cooperation with them, the current crisis in the church and the challenges ahead cannot be overcome.

In matters of church finances, for example, the bishops were open to letting lay people participate in how money from the common pot of the seven Bavarian dioceses, the so-called supra-diocesan fund (uDF), is distributed. This currently amounts to 42 million euros, with the money going primarily to the Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt, the Catholic Academy in Bavaria and the Catholic Foundation University of Applied Sciences.

Caritas President Peter Neher sees room for reform in church labor law. He says it's about striking a balance between the Catholic Church's non-negotiable esteem for the sacrament of marriage and the reality of people's lives.

"We are, after all, working on a further development of church labor law that tries to do equal justice to the proprium of the church's mission and the individual life courses of employees," Neher said.

Church must remain credible

The head of the Catholic welfare association stressed that the church must remain credible. However, the ecclesiastical profile of an institution is not only reflected in the affiliation of the employees to the church and in their personal way of life. "It shows in the devotion to the people who need help and support, in the professionalism of the work."

Also important, he says, are the spiritual offerings for employees and the Christian rituals that characterize the routine in church facilities. "We deal very intensively with the question of what facilities and what employees need in order to experience the ecclesiality of a ministry and its spiritual foundations."

Bishops to discuss reforms to church labor law on Monday

At their Permanent Council in Wurzburg on Monday, the Catholic bishops will discuss reforms in church labor law, which differs significantly from the Works Custody Act. Thus, church employees are expected to conform to church beliefs and morals in their private lives as well. A violation of these obligations of loyalty – such as leaving the church, second civil marriage after divorce or homosexual cohabitation – can result in consequences under labor law, up to and including dismissal.

The bishops discuss, among other things, whether there can be a gradation of loyalty obligations depending on proximity to the church's proclamation mission. The Catholic Church is at 650.000 full-time employees one of the largest employers in Germany. Around 500.000 of them work for a Caritas company, i.e. in counseling services, care facilities, kindergartens or church hospitals.

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