Relaunch of the guidelines

Archbishop Ludwig Schick of Bamberg wants abusers from within the church to compensate their victims. "We need reparations," Schick told the "Suddeutsche Zeitung" newspaper. In addition to the perpetrators, however, the institution is also morally challenged, he said.

"According to our rule of law, this must come from the perpetrators."The archbishop does not see the church itself in the obligation for the time being. "There is no provision in our legal system for an institution to be liable."To the question of whether the church should not pay compensation to the victims out of moral responsibility, Schick replied: "We will certainly have to talk about this within the church." First, however, the perpetrators are required. "It's not as if they're all poor."In church law, there is also the possibility of lifting statutes of limitations in special cases," he said. "We must now also use this possibility," said Schick. Once again, the archbishop spoke out in favor of changing the guidelines of the German Bishops' Conference. In the future, the public prosecutor's office should be informed even if the accusations are time-barred. In addition, the investigating authorities would have to be called in already with a justified suspicion. This already applies to the case when a credible witness brings forward something that goes beyond a rumor. The Bishops' Conference will implement it in the coming weeks, he said. Schick also voted for an extension of the statute of limitations for sexual abuse from 10 years calculated from the age of majority of the victim to at least 30 years. Legislators should also try to find rules on how to deal with cases that are already time-barred, even if new time limits cannot apply retroactively.

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Christina Cherry
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