Sexualized violence is an ie that is currently also affecting the Protestant church in Germany. Now the chairman of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany has commented on the state of the reappraisal process.
When it comes to clarifying and coming to terms with sexual abuse in institutions of the Protestant Church, the chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, relies on "thoroughness before speed". He said this on Sunday in a "Spiegel" interview when asked whether the Protestant church was slower than the Catholic church in this respect: "The structures of both churches differ and that leads to different approaches in some cases."
"Things are clearly moving forward"
Sexualized violence affects all areas of society, the Bavarian bishop added. That's why they're also working with the federal government's independent commissioner: "Two years ago, we drew up an 11-point action plan, all parts of which have been worked on or are on the way to being worked on. This includes the establishment of an affected persons advisory council, which was constituted in September."A scientific study costing around 3.6 million euros is also about to start, he said. Some things have taken longer than expected – also because of Corona – "but things are clearly progressing".
On the comment that the Catholic Church increased its payments in recognition of the suffering to as much as 50.Bedford-Strohm countered that the Protestant Church had relied on individual recognition benefits at a very early stage: "Up to now, around 7.4 million euros in material benefits have been paid to those affected in this way. Each case is decided individually." In the national churches, he said, there are independent commissions made up of lawyers, psychologists and church representatives who are responsible for this: "They are guided by comparable compensation for pain and suffering."