Papal investigator: Destruction of Church abuse files prohibited in future

It is a move that is contrary to church law: Bishop Joseph Bonnemain has announced a change in the archiving practice of personnel files in Swiss dioceses. A fundamental cultural change must take place in the Church, he said.

After the presentation of the Swiss abuse study, Bishop Joseph Bonnemain of Chur has announced a change in archiving practice in the dioceses. Destruction of files will be prohibited in future, Bonnemain announced on Tuesday as a representative of the Bishops' Conference at a press conference in Zurich. In doing so, the Swiss bishops are ignoring Roman law. This stipulates that files on offences committed by priests are to be destroyed at regular intervals; instead, written summaries are to be prepared.

"The ecclesiastical requirement to destroy files is being repealed," Bishop Bonnemain stressed. In a voluntary commitment, dioceses and church organisations in Switzerland must sign in future to no longer destroy abuse files. "The coming generation has the right to a purified church," said Bonnemain; and further: "Only a non-violent church has a right to exist." Henceforth, he said, it is necessary to work for a fundamental cultural change.

Bishops' Conference discusses resignations

At the press conference, the question of responsibility of cover-ups by bishops was also raised. "In the Bishops' Conference, we have been considering demands for resignations. Personal rights are also affected by this. We are working on this question. I cannot say more about it," Bishop Bonnemain said. The Bishop of Chur did not answer the question to what extent, for example, the expert committees should in future be given authority to issue directives to bodies investigating under canon law, such as the Offizialaten.

The Vatican is currently investigating several current and emeritus Swiss bishops as well as other clerics for dealing with sexual abuse. The bishops are mainly accused of covering up cases of abuse; some of the accused are accused of having committed sexual assaults themselves.

In June, on the initiative of the papal nunciature in Switzerland, the Vatican bishops' authority initiated a preliminary investigation under canon law and appointed Bishop Bonnemain of Chur as head of the investigation. According to the tabloid "SonntagsBlick", four of the accused bishops are still in office today and two are retired. For the time being, the presumption of innocence applies to all of them. The results of the investigation should be available by the end of the year.

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