Case f.

According to a report in the "Zeit" supplement "Christ und Welt" (Thursday), Hebe is said to have been rashly convinced of the innocence of an accused priest during his time as head of personnel in the archdiocese of Cologne and not to have believed the account of a person concerned.

According to the report, in 2011 a man undergoing psychiatric treatment for bipolar disorder contacted Christina Pesch, the then victims' representative of the archdiocese of Cologne, and stated that he had been abused in the years 1968 to 1972 by the now deceased priest F. sexual abuse and rape, which was published on. Hebe is said to have then held a conversation with the man concerned and his lawyer and, a little later, to have also informed Rev. F. Have questioned about the allegations, which he had denied. Shortly thereafter, Hebe had told Pesch that there was no connection to the accusations against F. there is nothing to it. Also the lawyer of the concerning had been informed some time after the discussion by telephone by the archbishopric that the reproaches could not have been corroborated.

"testimony against testimony"

Pesch told "Christ und Welt" the case remains unsolved. "Testimony stood against testimony."She had already recommended in 2011 the further clarification of the allegations by means of a credibility report. However, this had not even been considered.

The lawyer of the victim is quoted by "Christ und Welt" as saying: "There was no empathy whatsoever on the part of Mr. Hebe during the conversation."He had made no secret of the fact that he was on the side of the accused and had threatened with legal consequences.

No comment from Hamburg

Hebe currently does not comment on this case or other individual cases, as confirmed by his spokesman. According to "Christ und Welt", he had commented in a letter to the Munich law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW) last year. According to the statement, there had been "no basis for further action by the church authorities". He had also dutifully informed the then Archbishop of Cologne, Joachim Meisner, about the accusations against F. informed. This would have, according to experts, a canonical preliminary investigation against F. have to initiate.

In the previously unpublished study by the Munich law firm, Hebe is also accused, according to earlier media reports, of having covered up several cases of abuse as head of personnel in Cologne. The archbishop had always rejected the accusations. In November 2020, Hebe had informed the Congregation of Bishops in Rome about the accusations and asked for examination.

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne has not allowed the WSW report to be published for the time being because of "methodological deficiencies". He commissioned a new expert report on the handling of sexual abuse cases, which was published on 18. March is to be presented. Hebe has been archbishop of Hamburg since 2015 and was previously head of personnel from 2006 and vicar general in the archdiocese of Cologne from 2012 to 2015.

Former intervention officer resigns from church

Meanwhile, Oliver Vogt (51), former intervention officer of the Archdiocese of Cologne for dealing with cases of sexual abuse, has left the church. Vogt, now head of the school administration of Solingen, confirmed on Wednesday to the Catholic News Agency (KNA) a corresponding report of the ZDF magazine Frontal 21.

For its step, which took place already in February 2021, there had been several reasons. This also includes the personal dealings of former and incumbent responsible persons in the archdiocese with the processing of abuse. "I can no longer cope with the fact that leading church officials are not prepared to take moral responsibility for the events in which they were personally involved," Vogt said.

The social worker and business economist in social services moved to the newly founded church-affiliated Institute for Prevention and Reappraisal of Sexualized Violence (IPA) in Lantershofen near Bonn in the fall of 2019. A year later he surprisingly gave up the leadership of the institution.