Swiss Catholic Bishops Conference in state of shock after release of abuse study

Study: 921 victims of abuse in the Catholic Church in Switzerland

University of Zurich pilot study commissioned by Church documents "human failures and failures of Church institutions", such as cover-up of many cases - Bishops' Conference "shocked"

President of the Bishops' Conference

At least 921 people have been victims of sexual abuse in the environment of the Catholic Church in Switzerland since the middle of the 20th century. However, a pilot study presented on Tuesday by the Department of History at the University of Zurich assumes that this is only "the tip of the iceberg". It identified 1,002 cases and 510 accused. The spectrum ranged from "problematic border crossings to the most serious, systematic abuses that lasted for years", it said. "Shocked and shocked" was the reaction of the President of the Swiss Bishops' Conference, Bishop Felix Gmür, to the publication of the study. The Bishops' Conference assured that it would "do everything humanly possible to ensure that those affected receive justice and that sexual abuse is prevented in the future".

Sexual abuse had occurred throughout Switzerland and during the entire period under investigation, the report states. Three "social spaces" with specific power constellations were particularly affected: in pastoral care, especially in confessionals, altar servers and religious education; in the education and care sector of the Catholic Church, which performed central social functions especially in the first half of the 20th century; and in religious orders and new spiritual communities and movements. In the case of these, the search for sources was particularly difficult.

According to the data, 39 per cent of the victims were female, 56 per cent male, and for 5 per cent the sex could not be clearly determined in the sources. 74 per cent of the documented cases of sexual abuse involved minors - "from infants and prepubescent children to postpubescent young adults", according to the study directors Monika Dommann and Marietta Meier - as well as 14 per cent adults and 12 per cent people of an age that could not be clearly determined. The accused were almost exclusively men, they said.

High number of unreported cases

The two study leaders therefore assume that there are many more cases that have not yet been recorded, as numerous archives have not yet been evaluated, including archives of religious congregations, documents of diocesan committees and the archives of Catholic schools, boarding schools and homes as well as state archives. For two Swiss dioceses, the destruction of files could also be proven, according to the study leaders. It can also be proven that not all reports were consistently recorded in writing and archived. "In view of the findings from the dark field research, we assume that only a small part of the cases were ever reported," the historians say.

However, according to the four-member research team, the necessary access to the files - even if some of them had previously been kept secret - had always been obtained "without major hurdles, with a few exceptions". For the study, numerous interviews were also conducted with those affected by sexual abuse and other persons.

"Culture of looking the other way"

The researchers named a once existing "culture of looking the other way" in the Catholic Church as a basic problem. The Church's criminal law, which had already been tightened in 1917, had hardly been applied for a long time, but had been "concealed, covered up or trivialised" and the perpetrators had been protected, the historians said. Diocesan leaders had systematically transferred accused and even convicted and sentenced clerics, sometimes abroad, to avoid secular prosecution and to enable the clerics to continue their work. In doing so, the interests of the church and its dignitaries had been placed above the welfare and protection of parishioners.

A fundamental change in this approach can only be observed in the 21st century. Particularly the pressure from concerned organisations and the media had contributed to this, it was said.

The pilot study was commissioned by the Swiss Bishops' Conference, the Roman Catholic Central Conference of Switzerland (RKZ) and the Conference of Religious Orders and Other Consecrated Life Communities in Switzerland (KOVOS). They had commissioned the University of Zurich at the end of 2021 to investigate sexual abuse in the environment of the Roman Catholic Church since the middle of the 20th century.

Not only were all dioceses in all language regions of Switzerland included in the study, but also the structures under state church law and the religious orders. This means that - unlike comparable studies in other countries - the Catholic Church in Switzerland was considered as a whole.

Further studies planned

In a statement on Tuesday, the commissioners stressed that the report had brought to light documents and statements that indicated the extent of the acts and the suffering of those affected. It also revealed "human errors and grossly negligent to irresponsible actions as well as the failure of church institutions whose leaders covered up abuses and thus accepted further victims". For a long time, the church leaders had hesitated to face up to this guilt and to accept the great co-responsibility for the crimes, the consequences of which often affected the victims for the rest of their lives.

According to the information provided, the report presented is to be the prelude to further investigations into abuse in the Church in Switzerland. The project was the first systematic attempt to scientifically grasp and outline abuse in the environment of the church. Fundamental questions of access to archives, the state of research and documentation of cases of abuse within the church as well as the efforts made so far to deal with and prevent them have now been clarified. This has laid a foundation for further research.

In future projects, according to the research team, further archival holdings must be consulted and the data basis expanded: "In this way, more detailed statements can be made about the quantitative dimension of sexual abuse as well as temporal and geographical accumulations," according to the three commissioning institutions.

Bishops' Conference "shocked"

The President of the Swiss Bishops' Conference, Bishop Felix Gmür, reacted "shocked and shaken" to the publication of the study. Behind each of the documented 1,002 cases, there is a person, "a face, a life that was destroyed", said the Bishop of Basel. The nine members of the Swiss Bishops' Conference assured that they would "do everything humanly possible to ensure that those affected receive justice and that sexual abuse is prevented in the future".

In order to "take responsibility and act", the bishops had decided as a first measure to take action together with the cantonal bodies and religious congregations. "We will create and finance independent reporting offices," said the President of the Bishops' Conference. Abuses and suspected cases should thus be easier to report and the necessary steps taken promptly. Furthermore, "all relevant documents must be stored in the archives without time limit" in order to counteract forgetting and covering up and to ensure further processing. Gmür also announced uniform psychological tests for all those who want to undergo pastoral training.

It was reported that the Bishops' Conference, the Association of Religious Orders and the Roman Catholic Central Conference of Switzerland had already committed themselves to new principles in dealing with acts of abuse themselves. All church leaders at the top of dioceses, regional churches and religious orders have thus been instructed to no longer destroy any files that are connected to cases of abuse or document how they were handled. Furthermore, the three institutions have already decided in June 2023 to continue the cooperation with the Historical Seminar of the University of Zurich. They have already commissioned another research project for the years 2024 to 2026 amounting to 1.5 million Swiss francs (1.569 million euros).

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