BERLIN — The Cardinal of Cologne in Germany has suspended two high-ranking officials named in a report on the church’s handling of accusations of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, bringing an end to months of speculation about a matter that has led thousands in the area to sever their relationship with the church over the past year.
The report, released on Tuesday, found no wrongdoing by the cardinal, Rainer Maria Woelki. But an auxiliary bishop serving in the archdiocese and the head of its ecclesiastical court were both named in the 800-page review. It documents a “systematic cover-up” in the archdiocese’s handling of accusations of sexual abuse from 1975 to 2018, and the cardinal immediately announced suspensions for both men.
“As of today, it is no longer possible to say we had no idea,” Cardinal Woelki said after the release of the report — which he had not previously seen, but which said he had been fearing. “I am deeply moved and shamed by this, and I am convinced that for clerics, their actions must have consequences.”
None of those named were accused of criminal wrongdoing, although a copy of the report was sent to prosecutors in Cologne for review. Cardinal Woelki said a copy would also be sent to the Vatican.
The release of the report, by Björn Gercke, a lawyer in Cologne, had been eagerly awaited amid growing frustration over Cardinal Woelki’s refusal to make public the results of an earlier investigation by a Munich-based law firm into the conduct of church leaders. A similar examination by that Munich firm into misconduct in the neighboring Diocese of Aachen was made public.
Germany is largely secular, and less than a third of its 82 million inhabitants belong to the Catholic Church. But the church remains a powerful institution, deeply embedded in German culture and social structures, especially in the western region around Cologne. The church has extensive property holdings and runs several hospitals, day care centers and nursing homes that employ more than a million people.
Mr. Gercke’s report named eight people, two of whom are dead, who committed 75 instances of misconduct by failing to report abuse to the appropriate authorities or to adequately protect victims. He stressed that the report focused on how the church had handled abuse accusations and not on specific instances of abuse.
Also named as having failed in their duties was the Archbishop of Hamburg, Stefan Hesse, who had previously served in Cologne. Cardinal’s Woelki’s predecessor, Archbishop Joachim Meisner, who died in 2017, was also said to have failed to act properly in 24 instances.
Archbishop Meisner also kept a secret file, titled “Brothers in the Mist,” that included details of accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse, the report found.
At the same time, it found that church leaders and others responsible for handling complaints of abuse failed to keep accurate records or documentation, Kerstin Stirner, a lawyer who worked on the report, said at a news conference in Cologne.
An opaque system existed for decades in which no one felt responsible, she said.
“It was marked by chaos” and a “lack of responsibility and misunderstanding” that changed only in 2015, when a structure was established for reporting and handling abuse cases, Ms. Stirner said.
Mr. Gercke recommended further strengthening the procedures for reporting abuse and improving the accuracy of record-keeping as part of efforts to prevent future misconduct.
He also said the church needed to change an internal culture that focused more on salvaging the institution’s reputation than protecting the victims.
The results of the still-unreleased Munich report were to have been presented last March. But after weeks of delaying its release, Cardinal Woelki said it had problems so grave that it could not be made public. That led to public suspicion that there was something to cover up.
Over the past year, the cardinal has been widely criticized, and more than 12,000 parishioners have either already quit the church or made an appointment to do so.
Since 2010, the Bishops’ Conference has run a hotline for abuse, and had a bishop serving as its own commissioner on the issue.
Source : Nytimes
