Victims of abuse in the Catholic Church © Harald Tittel
Abuse victims demand high compensation from Catholic Church, media report says. According to the current ie of "Der Spiegel," representatives of the victims' associations are talking about one-time payments of 300.000 euros per person.
The demand was voiced at a meeting on Monday in Bonn organized by the German Bishops' Conference.
So far, the church grants "benefits in recognition of inflicted suffering" – that is a maximum of 5.000 euros.
DBK: No comment
On Saturday, the new norms tightened by Pope Francis in the fight against clergy abuse will come into force. Among other things, they provide for mandatory reporting and regulate investigations against bishops who covered up or delayed investigations.
In response to a question, the bishops' conference said it is currently revising the recognition process for victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Germany. "We do not wish to comment on the 'Spiegel' report at this time in order not to prejudge the outcome of the deliberations," a spokeswoman said. The revision, he said, was the task of a working group agreed at the bishops' plenary meeting in Lingen in March.
Undercount: more than 100.000 aggrieved parties
As "Der Spiegel" continues, the victims' representatives at the meeting wanted a commission with experts from different fields to decide on the one-time payments in the future. Many of those affected suffered from mental illness and were only able to work to a limited extent. Scientists, psychological advisors and employees of the Federal Government Commissioner for Abuse, as well as the Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne, Ansgar Puff, as a representative of the Bishops' Conference, also took part in the talks in Bonn.
According to a major study published by the bishops' conference in the fall, church records from 1946 to 2014 contained evidence of nationwide 3.677 victims of sexual assault and on about 1.670 accused priests, deacons and religious found. Scientists ame that the number of unreported cases is more than 100.000 aggrieved parties, writes the "Spiegel".