Germany's top Protestant resigns

EKD council chairwoman Kurschus resigns

Game over

Resigned from office

A big blow for Germany's top Protestant. Annette Kurschus resigns as Chairwoman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany. She is also resigning from her position as President of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia.

Kurschus said this to journalists in Bielefeld on Monday. She is accused of having covered up a case of sexual assault as a former parish priest in Siegen.

She was at peace with God and herself, Kurschus said in her almost eight-minute personal statement, which was followed by journalists on site and around 500 people online.

About the person: Annette Kurschus

The theologian Annette Kurschus has been the council chairwoman of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) since November 2021 and is therefore the highest representative of the approximately 19.7 million German Protestants. Kurschus has been president of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia since 2012.

* Born on February 14, 1963 in Rotenburg an der Fulda

* 1983: Studied Protestant theology in Bonn, Marburg, Münster and Wuppertal

* 1993: Parish pastor in Siegen

  * 2001: Synod assessor (deputy superintendent) in the Siegen church district

But public trust in her administration has been damaged and she cannot carry out her duties effectively if her sincerity is questioned. The focus of public attention should not be on her person, but rather on the people affected by abuse.

Fehrs takes over on an interim basis

After Annette Kurschus resigned as council chairwoman of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Hamburg Bishop Kirsten Fehrs took over the office on an interim basis. The EKD announced this on Monday following Kurschus' personal statement. Fehrs has been bishop in the Hamburg district of the Northern Church since 2011, and she has been deputy council chairwoman since November 2021.

According to the EKD, Fehrs explained that Kurschus' step deserved respect.

“For the Council of the EKD, the resignation of Annette Kurschus brings with it an obligation to consistently continue to pursue the path it has taken in dealing with and preventing sexual violence,” said Fehrs.

Investigations not completed

A few days ago, allegations of abuse against a former employee of the Siegen-Wittgenstein church district became public. The current pensioner is said to have sexually harassed young men for years. In Siegen, Kurschus worked as a parish priest from 1993 and later as a superintendent.

The "Siegener Zeitung", citing affidavits from two witnesses, reported that Kurschus had already been informed of the allegations in a conversation with several people in her garden at the end of the 1990s. Before the EKD synod meeting in Ulm last week, Kurschus rejected this as "hints and speculation" and explained that she had only known about the allegations of abuse since the beginning of this year through a report. In conversations many years ago, the man's sexual orientation was discussed, "but at no time was sexual violence committed."

The Siegen public prosecutor's office does not yet see any criminal relevance in the possible case of abuse because, according to current knowledge, the alleged victims were of age at the time in question and the incidents occurred a long time ago. However, the investigation has not yet been completed, a spokesman told the Evangelical Press Service (epd).

Source