To start the Abuse processing commission for the eastern dioceses the “Those Affected Advisory Board East” sharply criticized the constitution. “The central point of criticism is the exclusion of all information and files of the military chaplaincy and the official offices (church courts, ed.) from information and insight for the commission,” said the representatives of those affected, Sabine Otto and Michael Köst on Thursday. “A concession from the bishops could not be achieved.”
In addition, because the bishops had not appointed a representative for those affected, only one representative for those affected attended the meeting. She therefore opposed the election of the chairperson. “The Advisory Board for Affected Persons doubts that the Review commission for Berlin, Dresden-Meissen, Görlitz and the Catholic military pastoral care (IKA) Affected parties will be appropriately involved and the interests of those affected will be taken into account in the processing,” it said. Those affected by sexual abuse from the three dioceses have come together in the Advisory Board.
The former Minister of Justice of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Uta-Maria Kuder (CDU), will head the “Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse” in the future. At its inaugural meeting, the commission, made up of representatives from the federal states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony, those affected and church representatives, elected the Catholic politician to chair it.
The Commission sees the focus of its work as finding out which and how many cases of sexual abuse there has been. According to its own statements, the committee, which consists of nine members, first wants to get an impression of the status of the processing in the dioceses. The aim is to clearly identify the concrete structures of the dioceses that promote abuse and to work towards effective prevention of sexual and spiritual abuse in all areas of church work. (with dpa)
