The President of the Center for the Protection of Minors of the Pontifical Gregorian University, to which the Pope has entrusted the prevention of sexual abuse in the Church: “Worldwide 3-5% of priests are abusers”
VATICAN CITY. «We are in shock for the report on pedophilia in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising “. These investigations “are needed, and one would also be needed in Italy”. Even if «by now the phenomenon is clear: in the world in every region between 3 and 5% of priests are abusers. We have criminals among us. This is why we still have to take steps forward to purify the Church ”. This is the analysis of the German Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, theologian and psychologist, president of the Center for the Protection of Minors of the Pontifical Gregorian University, to which Pope Francis has entrusted the prevention of sexual abuse in the Church.
What was your reaction to the Munich dossier?
“As after other such data releases, we are shocked. We are devastated by the numerical dimension and by the continuation over time, for decades, of this violence ».
What particularly troubles you?
“The concealment and cover-ups of the cases, the omissions and indifference on the part of the hierarchies and the heads of the dioceses, who have not carried out the interventions that canon law foresees and foresees”.
What does Joseph Ratzinger’s involvement in the report mean?
“It aggravates the image of the story.”
What is the Church doing concretely to eradicate this scourge within it?
«He is working a lot in the field of prevention. First of all in the formation of priests, men and women religious, catechists and other collaborators. But we must learn to be more responsible ».
In what sense?
“Our structures have not yet changed method and system with respect to transparency on responsibilities: while it becomes clear who abuses, it is not so easy to make those who have covered them assume responsibility to” save the face of the institution “, to those who should have to watch over those who should have intervened according to the indications of the various laws and also according to our mission as men of the Church: the evangelical attitude of protecting the weakest ».
Can inquiries like the one in Munich lead to anything good? Would one need like this also in Italy?
“Yes, these investigations conducted objectively and published are absolutely useful. And it would also serve in Italy, of course, so we would look reality in the face and not continue to deny something that is continually denied, namely that in Italy there is no sexual abuse in the Church. Although in general, paradoxically, everything is now clear from the point of view of the spread of the phenomenon: in the world the number of abusive priests is between 3 and 5% in each region. After the release of these investigations, it is necessary first of all to start listening to the victims. And then, modify the power relations in the Church, which should be more shared and less authoritarian, and open up to scrutiny with the possibility of being judged by other experts outside the Catholic enclosure. And then we should ask ourselves a crucial question ».
Which?
«Is it more important to imagine that does not correspond to reality, or to admit that we are not saints, that we have sinned and that we also have criminals among us? Jesus said: the truth will set you free. Only after confession can absolution and forgiveness arrive ”.
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