This was announced by the University of Paderborn and the Archdiocese.
The church-historical evaluation had been delayed because of the large amount of material and because of legal checks.
The terms of office of the former archbishops and cardinals Lorenz Jaeger and Johannes Joachim Degenhardt (1941–2002) are scrutinised.
According to the archdiocese, much of the known abuse cases fall within that period.
The interim report on the study had already caused a stir and outrage in December 2021.
Because in it, Jaeger and Degenhardt were attested to serious misconduct in dealing with abusers among the clergy.
They would have protected accused persons and sometimes expressed their sympathy in writing.
They would not have shown care to those affected.
The suspicion that Jaeger and Degenhardt themselves were perpetrators, the archdiocese rejected in October.
None of the previously known accusations are plausibly set out.
The archdiocese had learned of a third accusation at that time – in addition to the allegations of two already known alleged victims.
Researchers from the University of Paderborn have been working on the study since 2020.