Upset after abuse sermon © Dong Kyu (shutterstock)
In Munster, a sermon last weekend caused a stir: in it, a pastor emeritus called for forgiveness for perpetrators of abuse. Some of the community members present did not want to listen to this any longer.
As a result, about 70 people left the church, according to the Munster-based Internet portal "kirche-und-leben".de" reported. In his sermon last weekend, Pastor Ulrich Zurkuhlen had called for being able to forgive one another and had explicitly referred the statement to priests who had sexually abused minors as perpetrators.
The hook was the blasphemy of two women about their deceased husbands, which he had overheard. The 79-year-old had also confirmed this afterwards.
"Screaming mob"
Visitors to the service reported that the pastor had told about a priest friend who was accused of being a perpetrator. He said it must be time to forgive him. Thereupon it became loud and hectic, and the pastor did not finish his sermon.
Zurkuhlen told "kirche-und-leben.de" he had been shocked. Against "the screaming mob" he had not been able to explain the biblically so important meaning of forgiveness: "We do not pray for nothing in the Lord's Prayer: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
Even bishops speak of priest-abusers as "criminals," although they may well have been good pastors, Zurkuhlen complained. Nobody is only abysmally evil: "Often goodness and guilt are combined with each other or stand side by side without touching each other."
Senior parish priest regretted what happened
The parish's senior pastor, Stefan Rau, regretted what had happened. The sermon content and the leap from blasphemous women to the victim-perpetrator relationship was "more than thoughtless". According to his information, victims of abuse were also present at the service. According to his own statement, Father Zurkuhlen was not aware of this. Rau announced that on Monday he would invite the congregation to a public discussion about what had happened.
The diocese Munster welcomed the discussion announcement. This is "the right signal," diocese spokesman Stephan Kronenburg told the Catholic News Agency (KNA). Since the sermon was delivered freely and not in writing, the diocese could not comment on its content. However, in all efforts to come to terms with sexual abuse, "the focus should first be on the victims and not on the perpetrators.".