Munich archbishop to give update on abuse report

The Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, plans to give an update on a sensational report about cases of sexual abuse in the southern German archdiocese.

The report is coming one year after it was published.

According to the archdiocese, the main topic will be what has been done, since then, to deal with the cases and to help those affected.

“On the whole, a lot has happened,” Richard Kick, Chairperson of the diocese’s advisory board for victims, told dpa.

“We see, after an initial, suspicious eye was cast, a viable cooperation with the diocese’s administration.”

He, however, still considered the cases that the expert report had brought up to be the tip of the iceberg.

“We demand another expert opinion for the institutions that are not diocesan, but still church-related.

“Nothing is happening there yet. I think that is where most of the cases were: in the religious orders, in the children’s homes, among other places,” Kick said.

According to him, the state has a duty, especially when it comes to cases in children and youth institutions.

“We also need the state to intervene now.”

He called for the establishment of a professional body to look at the issue of abuse in institutions throughout the southern state of Bavaria.