The abuse case of a now 87-year-old priest had already caused fierce criticism at the end of 2019. Now a special report accuses former Cologne Cardinals Joseph Hoffner and Joachim Meisner of mishandling the case.
Hoffner has pastor A. despite a conviction for "continued fornication with children" was reinstated in pastoral care, the "Zeit" supplement "Christ und Welt" (Thursday) quotes from an unpublished investigation by the law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW).
A church-legal procedure against the again delinquent clergyman omitted Hoffner "contrary to duty", it is further said. Also his successor Meisner had known about the actions of the priest, but "contrary to duty both on any sanctioning (…) on the part of the church as well as on measures for the protection of endangered children and young people renounced". Both cardinals died years ago.
Expert opinion commissioned by the diocese of Essen
The case of the now 87-year-old priest A. Had already caused severe criticism at the end of 2019. Despite the two convictions, he was active in the archdioceses of Cologne and Munster, and from 2002 as a retired chaplain in the diocese of Essen. The dioceses have commissioned investigations into the case.
An expert opinion published on Wednesday by the Cologne law firm Axis, commissioned by the Ruhr bishopric, certifies that those responsible made clear mistakes. The Bishop of Essen, Franz-Josef Overbeck, told the weekly newspaper: "I have brought guilt upon myself."When he learned of the case shortly after taking office in Essen at the beginning of 2010, he did not ask for the personnel file. "Otherwise I might have seen the dimension of the case," the Ruhr bishop said.
The priest of the Archdiocese of Cologne had worked in Cologne and then in Essen-Kettwig since 1960 before he was sentenced to prison in 1972 for "continued fornication with children and addicts". Then he served in the Munster diocese from 1973 until 1988, when he received a suspended sentence for sexual acts with minors.
In 1989, A returned. returned to Cologne as a chaplain for old people's homes. As a retired chaplain he was then from 2002 to 2015 in Bochum-Wattenscheid in the diocese of Essen. In 2019, Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki banned him from priestly services. In the meantime, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican has begun an ecclesiastical criminal trial against a clergyman who now lives in a nursing home.
Overbeck rules out resignation
According to Overbeck, so far there are no further acts of A. known from his time in the diocese of Essen. He had "not perceived his responsibility properly" at the beginning of his time as bishop in Essen.
A resignation because of it, however, he ruled out. "For me, taking responsibility means learning. I think that is appropriate in this case."However, there may be other cases, Overbeck said, "there I would perhaps have to set other signs".
The bishop defended that the expert opinion on the handling of the diocese of Essen will not mention any names of responsible persons. "Those responsible in recent years can all know," said the bishop.