The EKD council chairwoman has come under pressure to explain and is facing growing criticism. The background is allegations of sexually assaultive behavior by a former church employee.
The council chairwoman of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Annette Kurschus, who has come under pressure, wants to explain herself personally today. Accusations had been made against her that she had known many years ago that a church employee at the time was suspected of sexually assaultive behavior. At the synod in Ulm almost a week ago, Kurschus emphatically rejected such “hints and speculations”.
Criticism of the EKD chairwoman, who represents 20 million Protestant Christians, had grown in recent days. There were public distancing measures and voices suggesting that she resign. Kurschus has also been president of the Westphalian regional church since 2012. The regional church office announced that she would speak in particular about the allegations against her in Bielefeld this morning.
The investigations are ongoing
The Siegen public prosecutor’s office is investigating several suspected cases against a former church employee who, like Kurschus, worked in the Siegen church district in the 1990s. According to the public prosecutor’s office, it is still unclear whether the man – he is now retired – was involved in criminally relevant behavior. It said on Friday that there had been “no indications that physical violence or a threat to life and limb had occurred against a person.” The investigations are still ongoing.
The “Siegener Zeitung” quoted the statement of two men who claimed to have informed Kurschus “in detail about the allegations of abuse” in the 1990s. At the synod, the EKD council chairwoman denied this. At the beginning of 2023, an anonymous complaint was received against the accused. “I had no prior knowledge of any acts of sexual violence committed by this person,” she emphasized. She promised that the entire case would be investigated independently.
The case surrounding the highest representative of the Protestant Church and head of the Westphalian regional churches had stirred many people. The EKD Council had met several times in the past few days with and without Kurschus (60). The Sexual Violence Participation Forum, in which those affected and church representatives sit, called for a complete explanation.
Source: Stern
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