German groups urge pope to speak out against child abuse in the church

Reporting from Berlin —  Several German Catholic organizations Tuesday urged Pope Benedict XVI to speak out about a case involving a priest suspected of child abuse while the pontiff was archbishop in his native Bavaria.

Dirk Taenzler, head of the Union of German Catholic Youth, said the widespread scandal facing the Roman Catholic Church in Germany, Ireland and elsewhere amounted to “the biggest crisis the church has faced since 1945,” referring to criticism that the church did not do enough to prevent the Holocaust.

Taenzler said the crisis would worsen if the pope did not issue a direct statement about Germany or comment on the case involving an abusive priest who was assigned to a pastoral position about 20 years ago when Benedict was then-Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger.

Church officials in Germany have said the priest’s reassignment was wrong, but that the mistake was made by a lower-ranking official who took “full responsibility.”

Taenzler said the church’s response fails to explain the pontiff’s feelings about the abuse.

“Outside the church no one understands that he has yet to make a clear statement, and neither do I,” he said.

The Vatican said Tuesday that the pope would speak soon on the child abuse issues rocking the church, in Europe in particular.

“The pope has proved that he knows what the right and necessary point in time is to intervene,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel.

Lombardi rebuffed criticism that the pope -- who, since 2001, when he was still a cardinal, has headed the Vatican’s efforts to shed light on child abuse within the church -- had been slow to respond.

“You can neither accuse him of being reserved nor remaining silent,” he said.

A group of Roman Catholic bishops in Bavaria met Tuesday to discuss how to deal with the many claims of physical or sexual abuse alleged in Germany. Some cases involve the Regensburger Domspatzen boys choir once led by the pope’s brother, the Rev. Georg Ratzinger.

Bishop Ludwig Schick, who hosted the meeting at Vierzehnheiligen, said he supports extending the statute of limitations in abuse cases, which is 10 years from the time victims turn 18.

Hundreds of churches and church institutions have been affected by the scandal, which has seen people coming forward on an almost daily basis since January to report abuse that they say they have suffered, sometimes for years, at the hands of priests, teachers at Catholic boarding schools and others. The list of victims includes high-ranking politicians, authors and a composer.

The chairman of the German Bishop’s Conference, Robert Zollitsch, recently appointed the Bishop of Trier Stephan Ackermann to look into abuse cases. On Monday Ackermann announced that the church was setting up a telephone hotline for victims of abuse, which will be activated in the next two weeks.

Passau Bishop Wilhelm Schraml this week became the highest-ranking leader of the German Catholic church to apologize to victims, especially those in his diocese, where numerous abuse cases have also come to light.

Increasing numbers of high-ranking German clerics have started to address the taboo topic of whether celibacy has a future in the church, or whether the church itself has a future if it continues to embrace celibacy.

Hans-Jochen Jaschke, auxiliary bishop in Hamburg, said in an interview with Die Welt daily that the church should consider allowing both married and celibate priests. He said it was also important for priests to be able to develop a relaxed attitude about sexuality.

Of 27 German dioceses, 16 are said to be affected by the abuse allegations. The fallout is likely to be painful and lingering with a survey by the polling institute Enmid showing that 71% of those polled thought it would damage the church’s credibility. Among Catholics, 67% were of the same opinion.

Connolly is a special correspondent.