The independent commission for dealing with sexual abuse in the Diocese of Trier has presented its first interim report. Priests were transferred and thus protected from punishment.
According to an investigation, those responsible in the Diocese of Trier have been covering up sexual abuse by priests for decades. Perpetrators were transferred inside and outside the diocese, also to protect them from criminal prosecution, reported the independent commission for the investigation of sexual abuse in the diocese of Trier (UAK).
At the new locations, abuse of children and young people had again occurred: the diocese had not taken any measures to protect potential victims “in a large number of cases”, the UAK criticized in its first interim report.
Two “serious case studies”
The commission reported from the files of two “serious case studies” that stretched over the years 1955 to 1975. A diocese priest was sent to Paraguay after repeated abuse following an arrest warrant “on special intervention by the Diocese of Trier”. Another priest got a job in the diocese of Trier despite a previous conviction in Austria for abuse and then abused children and young people again in the Eifel. The cases showed that there was no “responsible handling” of perpetrators.
In order to be able to assess the “clear role and responsibility” of the respective administrations and bishops, there will be further investigations, the commission announced. By mid-October, an initial study on abuse during the tenure of the former Bishop of Trier, Bernhard Stein (1904-1993), against whom there have been allegations of cover-up for a long time, should be presented. The Commission has been in office for a good year – its work is planned for a total of six years.
So far, for the period from the beginning of 1946 to the end of 2021, 513 victims and 195 accused or convicted perpetrators have been recorded throughout the diocese, said the seven-member committee made up of those affected and experts. It is assumed that with a study commissioned by the University of Trier to record cases of abuse, the numbers will continue to rise.
Independent review commission in the diocese of Trier Reappraisal of sexualized violence in the diocese of Trier Interim report
Source: Stern
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