Under his leadership, the diocese had commissioned the independent report from the Munich law firm Westpfahl-Spilker-Wastl - it was the first of the more than 200 dioceses in Italy to take "the painful path of clarification", praised Wastl at the presentation.
The law firm had already conducted investigations on behalf of the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising and other German dioceses.
Around 1,000 files were examined for the more than 600-page report"Sexual abuse of minors and adult charges by clerics in the diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone from 1964 to 2023".
The research identified 67 cases of abuse and 59 victims between the ages of 8 and 14.
Of the 41 accused priests, who were between 28 and 35, the allegations were proven with high probability or certainty in the case of 29; in the case of 12 clerics, they could not be sufficiently assessed.
The report in full
The Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone has published the entire report and a brief summary on its website.
However, these figures only reflect the bright field, said lawyer Nata Gladstein. "In our opinion, the dark field is much larger." There have not yet been any corresponding studies, but they would certainly be worthwhile.
According to the study, the number of cases has fallen sharply since the 1990s; however, many of the offences were already known to the diocese management before 2010.
There had been massive mistakes by decision-makers at various levels, partly out of ignorance, refusal or even with the best of intentions, said Wastl. In 24 cases of abuse, those responsible in the diocese had acted incorrectly or at least inappropriately, in some cases for years.
51 per cent of those affected were female
The team was left speechless by the case of a priest who had "groped" and abused little girls since the 1960s, but had been transferred from one parish to the next for decades.
It was only after around 50 years that someone "had the courage" to remove him from pastoral care, according to the expert.
The most surprising result for the reporters was that more than 51 per cent of those affected were female, while only 18 per cent could be clearly identified as male. This is of particular interest from a German perspective, where the number of males far outweighed the females, as well as from a South Tyrolean and Italian perspective, Wastl continued. Here, too, a separate scientific study would be worthwhile.
According to the lawyers, the results of the "Courage to look" project hardly differed from findings from German dioceses in terms of the systemic causes.
Wastl cited immature sexuality, the isolation of priests and the fatal concept of the "presumption of innocence". This is carried around "like a monstrance" by those who do not want to come to terms with the past.
During ongoing proceedings, a priest should not be removed from pastoral care.
But what if there is never a conviction, for example if cases are time-barred?
Another problem is"lay clericalism", where the parishes themselves want to protect their priests. Parishes should therefore be more involved in the prevention of abuse and "combat the evil (...) at grassroots level".
The rapporteurs also recommend setting up independent ombudsman offices and getting more women into positions of responsibility. With their study, which the diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone has now completed at the third attempt, the "courage to look" could grow into the "courage to act", said Wastl.
After the press conference, which lasted around 90 minutes, Bishop Muser and Vicar General Eugen Runggaldier accepted the two volumes bound in red in the South Tyrolean languages of German and Italian.
Muser announced a statement for Friday. He expressly thanked those affected for their co-operation in the study. Their suffering is shameful for the church.