Friday, March 12, 2010

Pope approves German church rules in abuse crisis, archbishop says

Pope Benedict XVI encouraged German bishops to continue with their efforts to aggressively confront and seek solutions to the widening scandal of sexual abuse of minors in Catholic schools, the head of the German bishops' conference said.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg told reporters that in a 45-minute private meeting March 12 the pope encouraged him to move ahead "with decision and courage" in investigating old cases and preventing new ones.

At a news conference held at the Teutonic College inside the Vatican, Archbishop Zollitsch said the pope was "deeply moved" and listened to the facts surrounding the many claims of abuse of minors in his native Germany "with great interest and great dismay."

He said German bishops "are profoundly disturbed that this was possible within the church environment." He said that as cases came to light over the past several weeks, he had apologized to victims and that "I would like to do that again here in Rome."

Archbishop Zollitsch said the German bishops "want to bring the truth to light ... even in cases from many years ago, because this is a right of the victims."

He said the bishops had compiled a "catalog" of rules to deal with such cases, including pastoral and therapeutic help for victims and their families; the appointment of a specific person in each diocese for victims to contact; the creation of a "culture of prevention" with guidelines for schools and church-related activities where children are present.

Full cooperation with civil authorities is part of the procedure, he said, with every case of suspected abuse subject to investigation by local law enforcement as well as church authorities. These investigations remain separate, he said, and the church probe will not have influence over the civil one.

Each diocese has been asked to fully investigate any claims of abuse or violence, even from long ago, he said.

The pope has "explicitly given a favorable opinion of our catalog," he said. The German bishops' set of guidelines is the most explicit and stringent so far, with the exception of the Austrian church, he said

Asked whether these rules will be extended to the rest of the universal church or suggested as guidelines, Archbishop Zollitsch said he did not know, but the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that deals with cases of priestly sexual abuse, was examining the possibility.

Archbishop Zollitsch said he had not discussed the recent claims of sexual abuse from the Diocese of Regensburg, because he didn't have enough information to broach the subject.

The cases are particularly sensitive because the claims involve alleged abuse at the choir school of the Regensburg Cathedral, where the pope's brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, served as choirmaster for 30 years.

The recent allegations involve incidents that occurred before Msgr. Ratzinger began working there.

The pope's brother said he had not been aware of any sexual abuse, but he has admitted that he slapped students on occasion.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: CNS