The Bavarian Benedictine monastery of Ettal wants to compensate victims of mistreatment and abuse at its boarding school individually. As the former federal interrogation judge Hans-Joachim Jentsch, commissioned by the abbey, told journalists on Thursday, the Benedictines will use their own assets to set up a compensation fund of 500.Put on 000 euros.
A commission independent of the monastery, chaired by Edda Huther, former president of the Bavarian Constitutional Court, will decide on payments, she said. The resolutions of the German Bishops' Conference served as an "orientation figure", but there should be no lump sum as with the Jesuits.
In order to reach all aggrieved parties, the monastery will write to the people of Altettal and provide information on its homepage on the Internet. The payments, intended as a "sign of active remorse" and not as reparations, should be applied for informally, if possible, by the end of May. The number of victims is said to be more than 100, and the number of accused priests and educators at least 15.
Scientific reappraisal
According to Jentsch, the abbey has also commissioned a Munich institute suggested by the Ettal victims' association to scientifically reappraise the events and thereby determine the psychological and sociological causes of the assaults. The results are to be documented. It is also intended to create a "place of remembrance" so that students, parents and educators can "learn from the terrible past.".
In reviewing the approximately 90 victim and witness reports available to him, the lawyer came to similar conclusions as the special investigator Thomas Pfister, who was commissioned by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising last year. Even though the number of victims and assaults, which stretched back to the 1940s, probably cannot be reconstructed exactly, it is sufficient "to evaluate the educational practice at Ettal monastery in the second half of the previous century," Jentsch said. Sexual abuse and borderline violations of the privacy of students are "sufficiently documented," as is abuse.
"System of the use of physical force"
According to the lawyer's findings, a "system of physical violence" existed in the monastery boarding school and the associated high school, which was "consciously used as a means of education" by the fathers as well as the students assigned to supervise them. Presumably, a "ritual of disciplining prevailed" in Ettal, which executed the claim to discipline and order with extraordinary harshness". As evidence, Jentsch referred to "class beatings" and the fact that a former abbot was himself involved in corporal punishment during his 30 years in office. At the same time, the ex-judge confirmed earlier assessments that a turnaround had occurred around 1990.
As factors that could have promoted a violent pedagogy, Jentsch named a lack of pedagogical training of the monks employed as educators until 1980, too few staff and spatial confinement, but also inconsistent behavior of parents.
The latter, if they had learned of assaults on their children, would have taken them out of the school, to be sure. However, they had not taken action against the perpetrator and the school. "They must probably let themselves be reproached for having thus protected an intolerable educational practice."
Victims association with progress of the processing contently
The Ettaler Abuse and Maltreatment Victims Association is satisfied with the progress of the reappraisal process. Chairman Robert Koehler praised the report presented by ex-federal interrogation judge Hans-Joachim Jentsch on behalf of the monastery on Thursday as a "milestone".
Major expectations of his association, which represents the interests of about 50 victims, have been met, he said.
Kohler referred to the research contract with a Munich institute to investigate the systemic causes and the planned "place of remembrance". Jentsch said he had confidence that the public announcements would be put into action.
It is also important "that Ettal dares to make its own compensation concept," Kohler said. Especially with the modalities of an individual Anpang of the payments he is satisfied. This does not apply, however, to the expected amount of the average sum. He said it was hard to see why victims of Benedictines were worth more to the church in Austria than in Germany. In addition, he expects that there will be "a lot of headwind" from the German Bishops' Conference about the Ettal concept in the next few days.
Abbot Barnabas Bogle said Jentsch's report shook him again, despite what he already knew about it. The Convention would have to make further efforts to come to terms with it. Thus, it was clear to him that the assaults had not only psychological and sociological causes. It is also said that an essential requirement of the Rule of Orders has not been taken seriously, namely to "deal with each other in a listening and sensitive way".