Munich (dpa / lby) - The state parliament Greens are calling for a commission independent of the Catholic Church to deal with sexualized violence in the church. In addition, there must be an independent ombudsman for those affected, said the Green MPs Gabriele Triebel and Toni Schuberl on Tuesday in Munich. In doing so, they renewed demands from the spring, for which there was initially no majority in the state parliament at the time. In a first step, according to the Greens, there should now be an expert hearing on the role of the Free State in the processing. The parliamentary group intends to submit a corresponding application this Thursday.
Triebel and Schuberl argued that it should not be left to the church alone to deal with the matter. The church has "failed institutionally", which is why the state itself has a duty here. "Child abuse is not a religious matter," said Schuberl.
The two Green politicians criticized that far too little had happened for years. For example, the fact that a study from 2010 with over 200 documented cases of sexualized violence against children and young people was ignored for nine years is "a slap in the face to those affected". Only today's Justice Minister Georg Eisenreich (CSU) is now "trying".
After the publication of a new report on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in January, Eisenreich (CSU) promised unreserved legal clarification. The public prosecutor's office investigated regardless of the reputation of individuals and without regard to institutions, Eisenreich emphasized at the time. Every act must be punished appropriately. Eisenreich will make a report on this in the state parliament on Thursday.
The report commissioned by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising itself and commissioned by the law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW) came to the conclusion that cases of sexual abuse in the diocese had not been dealt with appropriately for decades. The experts assume at least 497 victims and 235 alleged perpetrators, but at the same time from a significantly larger number of unreported cases.
The spokesman for the Munich advisory board for those affected, Richard Kick, said on Tuesday that this should only be the "tip of the iceberg". And the report is only about the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. He also criticized the fact that there are bishops who have blocked or insufficiently promoted the work-up to this day. Every diocese does it differently - but as a rule the church does not work proactively. This is another reason why the state must become more active.
