Priest in the diocese of Eichstätt: Allegations of sexual abuse raised!

Priest in the diocese of Eichstätt: Allegations of sexual abuse raised!

In the diocese of Eichstätt, a serious case of sexual abuse is currently being informed. As Vatican News has ended the diocese with a priest that comes from abroad District of Eichstätt was used. The decision came after an anonymous note that received in the end of May and provides serious clues for the allegations of sexual abuse. These incidents are said to have taken place in the home country of the priest, although the diocese has not yet made public which country it is.

All relevant documents have already been handed over to the responsible public prosecutor, and the diocese is in close exchange with the state investigative authorities. In such cases, a preliminary examination would be initiated in such cases, and the priest would be released from his tasks. However, this is not possible in this special case, since the allegations for the deeds are outside of Germany. Therefore, it is left to the priest's home bishopric of the other church law steps.

clerical abuse in focus

The diocese of Eichstätt took the case as an opportunity to intensify the general processing of sexual abuse cases. According to Diocese of Eichstätt , the personnel files of clerics who are confronted with similar allegations have already been spotted and processed. In the future, an external reappraisal will be provided, which will take place in cooperation with an independent commission. This project has the goal of meticulously examining sexual assault in the diocese and is carried out on the basis of the "common explanation of binding criteria and standards for an independent processing of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Germany".

The diocese plans to start the processing by the end of 2022 at the latest and has already named two external contact persons who are to be aside. These measures are intended to ensure transparent handling of the allegations and the data subjects. At a time when trust in the church is put to the test, it is important that such steps are taken seriously.

The Vatican Dicaster was also informed about the current case for the teaching of faith, which underlines the seriousness and urgency of the situation. In this difficult situation, the presumption of innocence generally applies to the priest concerned, while it is still clear that the questions of responsibility must be clarified at different levels. The further developments in this case remain to be seen.