Jesuit Hans Zollner © Romano Siciliani (CBA)
The Jesuit Hans Zollner demands a theological and pastoral confrontation with the sexual abuse of children by clergymen. Up to now, one has mainly dealt with it psychologically and in terms of criminal law.
"For 35 years, we in the Church have only ever dealt with the ie psychologically, psychiatrically, in terms of canon law and criminal law – I find that very significant," said the president of the Child Protection Center at the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome) in Leipzig on Wednesday evening."We have made a huge bow around the topic in our innermost – we have, for example, no liturgy in which those affected can express themselves."
2018 – turning point in dealing with abuse
The 52-year-old theologian and psychologist said he observes worldwide that more and more believers have the impression that "the bishops do introduce many abuse prevention measures in their dioceses – but they do it only because of prere from outside, but not from the heart, not because it is commanded by the Gospel."He misses in the church discussion the question: "What does God want to tell us with this topic, this scandal??", says Zollner. He believes the Church must face this in a very fundamental theological way.
The Jesuit described 2018 as a "turning point" for the Catholic Church's handling of abuse: "The focus is no longer only on the individual case, but the system as such is now being put to the test. This is new."
Every local church makes the same mistakes
Zollner emphasized, "If the German bishops had taken an example from the U.S. bishops in 2002 in terms of the consequences they drew from the abuse scandal in America, the situation in Germany today would be different." Every local church makes the same mistakes instead of learning from others. This is still continuing.
Zollner is one of the leading ecclesiastical experts in the field of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. He was instrumental in preparing the anti-abuse summit at the Vatican, which took place in February with bishops from around the world.