Scandals

With its judgment of 09.09.2021 with the az. C-33/20, C-155/20 and C-187/20 the european court of justice (eugh) consumer rights in credit agreements and car loans considerably strengthened. Most customers can revoke old credit contracts as a result, even if the contract was signed years ago. The ruling is also available in the diesel emissions scandal a blessing for car buyers.

The eugh had ruled on clauses in car loan agreements of the VW-bank, the skoda-bank and the BMW-bank and says very clearly: what is written in there is not enough to protect consumers from disadvantages. European law demands more:

They are regarded as innovation drivers and job machines: the suppliers to car manufacturers. Three of the world’s five largest suppliers come from germany. However, the industry slump is putting them on the skids. How to continue?

Overview

Reducing working time accounts, downsizing, relocating – even closing plants: automotive suppliers in germany are discussing how they can best defend themselves against the industry’s slump.

Company bosses have long since stopped assuming that the economic downturn will be temporary. The automotive industry, and with it the suppliers, has been hit by a severe structural crisis due to the possible shift away from the internal combustion engine and market problems in china, india and the u.S. And much faster than some corporate leaders had expected.

"Of course, you can not communalize the blame of the abuse scandal," Bishop Heiner Wilmer told the newspaper "Die Tagespost" on Thursday. It is always individuals who commit abuses, he said. "But the question is: In what framework did this happen? And how has the institution responded?"

Apology for abuse © Matt Rourke

Australia's government leader Scott Morrison on Monday ied an official apology to victims of child sexual abuse in institutions such as the Catholic Church. The country must acknowledge and apologize for the "lost cries of our children," he said.

The total number of the members went on 581.460 (2018: 593.360) back. Hildesheim Bishop Heiner Wilmer said the numbers signal "how much baptized people have become alienated from our church".

Some people might have financial reasons for leaving, but others would have lost their attachment to church life and resented the fact that, from their point of view, internal church reforms did not happen quickly enough. "In addition, our church has deeply disappointed the trust of many people through the numerous cases of sexualized violence and abuse of power."

For Osnabruck Bishop Franz-Josef Bode, it is important to strengthen the position of women in all areas of church life. He would like to see women involved in parish and supra-parish leadership functions far more than they have been up to now, he said in an interview with the Evangelical Press Service (epd).

"I do not consider married priests in certain regions to be an attack on the universal Church or on the priesthood," he stressed in an interview with the "Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger" (Saturday). On Sunday (6. October), the Amazon Synod will begin in Rome, which is to seek answers to the challenges facing the church in this region. This is also to discuss ways to ensure Mass celebrations in remote areas. The question of ordination of married men to the priesthood will determine "how concrete this may become," Kohlgraf said.

Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy can expect significantly higher compensation for pain and suffering in the future than before. In Mainz, the German Bishops' Conference (DBK) passed a resolution in principle to this effect, which was presented by its abuse commissioner, Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier, at a press conference this Thursday.

It was probably one of the darkest years in the recent history of the Catholic Church in Germany. At the end of January 2010, the abuse scandal started rolling and plunged bishops, priests and laity into a deep crisis of confidence. The scandal also opened the way for a new culture of dialogue within the church and triggered a debate on reform.

The German government's abuse commissioner, Johannes-Wilhelm Rorig, urges that victims of abuse be listened to. In addition, they must be involved in reappraisal processes "transparently" – "no matter whether it is about a reappraisal of acts in the church context, in sports, in a school or at a children's and youth recreation," Rorig stressed in an interview with Spiegel Online on Sunday.