Ruhr Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck has demanded concrete consequences from the Munich report on abuse in the Catholic Church.
Essen/Düsseldorf – Ruhr Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck has demanded concrete consequences from the Munich report on abuse in the Catholic Church. “Today we see clearly that responsibility must be taken – and responsibility is always personal,” he said on Thursday evening on ZDF. This includes “that the Vatican, that Pope Benedict also behaves”.
A new report on sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising presented on Thursday raises serious allegations against Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. The then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – according to the law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW) commissioned by the diocese – used abusers “with high probability” knowingly in pastoral care during his time as Archbishop of Munich and said the untruth about it. In four cases, the experts accuse him of misconduct.
It is also about a priest who in the 1970s, before his transfer to Bavaria, sexually abused boys in Bottrop and Essen and is said to have continued to do so at his new place of work. Those affected, together with church critics and a humanist foundation, called for a silent protest in front of Essen Cathedral this Friday afternoon. (dpa)
#abuse #report #Ruhr #bishop #calls #concrete #consequences