Archbishop of Freiburg left stunned by incompetence of his predecessor, the former Head of the German Bishops

Statement of the Archbishop on the report of the WG File Analysis

Stephan Burger: "It leaves me stunned".

Freiburg. The final report of the working group "Power Structures and File Analysis" on the archdiocese's past handling of cases of sexualised violence was published in Freiburg on Tuesday (18.04.). The publication took place within the framework of a press conference of the Commission for the Reappraisal of Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese of Freiburg. After the presentation of the report by the working group "Power Structures and File Analysis", Archbishop Stephan Burger commented on the findings of the report in a first statement.

"My two predecessors in office in particular have in the past, have even then simply ignored applicable church law which provided for intervention and reporting of cases. I am stunned that they were able to act in this way against their better judgement," said Stephan Burger. "It makes me stunned because Dr Oskar Saier was also a canon lawyer. Dr. Robert Zollitsch was a human resources manager for many years, became an archbishop and then also became president of the German Bishops' Conference. Both knew about the importance as well as the legal relevance of the issue. Behind this was an esprit de corps that is misunderstood from today's perspective. An external image of the church was to be maintained, which rejected any misconduct. Added to this is the protection of institutions, which takes precedence over everything."

"In the debt of those affected"

Archbishop Burger emphasised: "This failure of those responsible mentioned by name in the report constitutes a scandalous fact vis-à-vis those affected. Instead of serving the salvation of people, the salvation of souls, the inconsequential response to reports and denunciations had given further room to disaster. In this way, those responsible in our archdiocese, and precisely in view of the message of Jesus, have brought guilt upon themselves. Here the good news of Jesus was clearly perverted. As the people responsible for the Archdiocese of Freiburg, the Archbishops are indebted to those affected. As archbishop, I also have to face up to this. And as Archbishop, I ask the forgiveness of those affected for this failure."

Statement of the Archbishop on the occasion of the publication of the report of the Working Group "Power Structures and File Analysis" on the occurrence of abuse in the Archdiocese of Freiburg

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen!

The report of the working group "Power Structures and File Analysis" published today has revealed for our Archdiocese how it was possible in the past for failures to occur within our church structures. The exemplary cases presented and processed here leave nothing to be desired in terms of clarity and clarity.

In particular, my two predecessors in office in the past, even then, simply ignored applicable church law which provided for intervention and reporting of cases. I am stunned that they were able to act in this way against their better judgement. It makes me stunned because Dr Oskar Saier was also a canon lawyer. Dr. Robert Zollitsch was a personnel manager for many years, became an Archbishop and then also became chairman of the German Bishops' Conference. Both knew about the importance as well as the legal relevance of the issue. Behind this was an esprit de corps that is misunderstood from today's perspective. An external image of the church was to be maintained, which rejected any misconduct. 

Added to this was the protection of institutions, which took precedence over everything. All of these were supporting and guiding factors in dealing with sexual abuse of children, youths and the protected. In this sense, my two immediate predecessors in the archdiocesan office, among others, tried to protect the perpetrators as far as possible, to conceal and cover up their deeds. Public disclosure of the abuses was to be prevented as far as possible. Initially, there was a complete lack of awareness of those affected. Their suffering, their distress and thus also their fate in life were ignored and suppressed. Only late, too late, did those affected come more into view.

Today, I would like to express my special thanks to those affected who, with courage and energy, have started and are starting to report the crimes committed against them, so that, as far as possible, perpetrators and those responsible can be held accountable. Yes, I would like to encourage those affected who have not yet come forward to take this step, even if it is not an easy one for them.

Of all people, those affected now make it possible to confront the abuse in all clarity and severity in order to prevent for the present and future what happened in the past to them, to innocent people. Thank you to our members of the victims' advisory council, who are involved and committed in a special way. In addition to the faulty and unprofessional handling of the perpetrators, the situations for those affected were completely misjudged or the seriousness of the crimes was not acknowledged. There was also a deliberate failure to take criminal action.

This failure on the part of those responsible, who are named in the report, is a scandalous act towards those affected. Instead of serving the salvation of people, the salvation of souls, the inconsequence of reports and denunciations had given further room to disaster. In this way, those responsible in our archdiocese, and precisely in view of the message of Jesus, have brought guilt upon themselves. Here the good news of Jesus was clearly perverted.

As the people responsible for the Archdiocese of Freiburg, the Archbishops are indebted to those affected. As archbishop, I also have to face up to this. And as Archbishop I ask the people concerned for forgiveness for this failure. I can only try to stand by those affected, in recognition of their suffering, with therapies, with support measures and further help as well as with offers of talks. And I do this with full conviction.

 As a former official and current Archbishop, I have been accused of judging my predecessors in a self-righteous way, because I was also part of this system in the past.

The question has also been asked on several occasions whether I would not have acted in the same way in the past and committed the same mistakes. There is no question in my mind that I have made mistakes. In addition, I am driven by the thought, indeed the doubt about myself, whether I personally, as an official and in the ignorance of the case numbers at that time, should not have inquired and pressed for fundamental compliance with the applicable law, regardless of whether the archbishop would have complied with such an intervention.

In the past years I have learned, especially in many conversations with those affected, what abuse means in its devastating effect. The report proves that I made mistakes. The report points out that in some places I, as Archbishop, have not been self-critical and consistent enough in documenting procedures or demanding that they be followed. In this regard, it is important for me to take even more care in the future in the application of the applicable law.

And I would add: Where I myself have made mistakes in the past, where I personally, according to today's knowledge, have succumbed to misjudgements in the application of the applicable order, where I myself was not sensitive enough in the fulfilment of my tasks in my behaviour towards those affected, I deeply regret this and ask for forgiveness! 

We will learn from the mistakes of the past. We will eliminate structural weaknesses. And we will improve supervision and control of processes and procedures. In this, the report with its disclosure and its indications is an indispensable reminder and help. For me and for all others in the archdiocese, it is a question of personal attitude as to how we can assume responsibility within the system in the light of the Gospel.

Here I am grateful for all help and constructive criticism and for the opportunity - with all systemic ultimate responsibility - to be able to tackle tasks together with others. I thank the gentlemen of the working group for their careful and professional research, for their analysis and - connected to this - for their clear recommendations at the end of the report.

From this, further options for action emerge in order to be able to optimise our work. Together with my colleagues in the Archdiocesan Ordinariate, I will draw conclusions from the findings presented. This includes eliminating possible sources of error and reviewing and improving the necessary control mechanisms.

As far as the assumption of responsibility by Archbishop Dr Robert Zollitsch is concerned, I cannot speak for him. I can only refer to the statements he has published in the past, including the statement he posted on his website yesterday. Whether and in what form ecclesiastical consequences are still to be drawn is up to the assessment of the Apostolic See in Rome. The necessary measures have been initiated.

In the meantime, in many conversations with victims and in co-operation with the victims' advisory boards in our archdiocese as well as at the DBK level, I was able to learn and sense what it means to have to shape one's life and deal with this destructive power after suffering abuse.

It is not without reason that my work and my efforts are now focused on coming to terms with the situation, on intervention and prevention, both at diocesan level and at the level of the DBK. Here we as a Church have a permanent, challenging task. This makes it our duty to contribute our findings and experiences and to learn from them, also for those affected in other social contexts. It is about preventing abuse in the best possible way.

Coming to terms with the past, acknowledging the suffering, intervention and prevention are also significant and important tasks for the future. This is where we as a church remain challenged! Aware that we can only tackle this task in our various church areas with the help of many others, and aware of our respective responsibilities, I would like to thank all those who have been and continue to be involved in coming to terms with, intervening in and preventing abuse.

I would not like to leave unmentioned the work in the various thematic areas of the original commission "Power and Abuse". The working group "Power Structures and File Analysis" emerged from this first commission. Here, work was taken up very quickly after the publication of the MHG study. The present report also refers to this.

And the fact that this work continues, now reorganised by the Commission according to the guidelines of the Joint Declaration of UBSKM (Independent Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse) and the German Bishops' Conference, is an important sign both internally and externally. A heartfelt thank you to all Commission members who are taking on this task of further processing.

To conclude my presentation, I would like to refer to the Gospel of John, Chapter 8 Verse 32, as an aspect of the entire work that I consider indispensable. There Jesus remarks that only the truth will set us free. In order to be able to face the future with confidence, we have to face the truth, and this includes actively working through the disturbing past that disregards human dignity, in order to be able to realign ourselves with the message of Jesus.

Stephan Burger, Archbishop