Child Sexual Abuse by Catholic Priests, Deacons, and Male Members of Religious Orders in the Authority of the German Bishops’ Conference 1946–2014

Abstract

This study explores the extent of sexual abuse of minors by members of the Catholic Church in Germany. It is the first comprehensive study to examine this extent in a European country. The goals of this study are as follows: (a) to analyze whether the extent and characteristics of sexual abuse in a European country are comparable to those in the United States and Australia and (b) how discrepancies can be explained. The personnel files of 38,156 Catholic Priests, deacons, and male members of religious orders in the authority of the German Bishops’ Conference were analyzed. The study period lasted from 1946 to 2014. All 27 German dioceses took part in this study. A total of 4.4% of all clerics ( N = 1,670) from 1946 to 2014 were alleged to have committed sexual abuse, and 3,677 children or adolescents were identified as victims. These results are similar to those from comparable studies in the United States. Sexual abuse of minors within the authority of the Catholic Church seems to be a worldwide phenomenon.

Child sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in Spain: A descriptive study of abuse characteristics, victims’ faith, and spirituality.

“…Regarding our first hypothesis, and similar to observations made in studies carried out in other European countries (Dressing et al, 2021; Langeland et al, 2015; Rassenhofer et al, 2015), CSA-Church victims were predominantly males (Terry, 2008), who were abused mainly by priests or pastors. Some authors have explained this result by referring to the ease with which the clergy have had access to men/boys in their daily activity, as well as aspects related to homosexuality (McGraw et al, 2019).…”

“…Again, this is likely to be a matter of opportunity (see the review on situational opportunity theories of crime by Wilcox & Cullen, 2018). Other European countries have published studies with similar results, such as Germany (Dressing et al, 2021;Rassenhofer et al, 2015) and the Netherlands (Langeland et al, 2015), such as confirming the existence of what seems to be a widespread problem mainly affecting pubescent in Western countries.…”

“I thought in order to get to God I had to win their approval”: a qualitative analysis of the experiences of Muslim victims abused by religious authority figures

“…The abuse will mould itself to make optimal use of situations or beliefs that act as camouflage for the abuse and make the reporting of such abuse less likely to be communicated or believed. Many of the perpetrators of sexual crime in a religious setting are those who hold legitimate authority over other religious adherents (see, for example, Berry, 1992;Bottoms et al, 1995;Dressing et al, 2021;Hurcombe et al, 2019;Press & Friday, 1993;Rashid & Barron, 2019) with victims literally worshipping the person who is offending against them (IICSA, 2020). Where it is a legitimate religious authority perpetrating the abuse, it is possible for individuals to commit abuse against multiple individuals and/or over a longer period of time (Fogler et al, 2008).…”

Sexueller Missbrauch von Minderjährigen im Verantwortungsbereich der katholischen Kirche: Institutionelle Spezifika

“…Dies entspricht einem Anteil von 4,4 % der Kleriker, von denen Personalakten durchgesehen wurden. Bei Diözesanpriestern betrug der Anteil 5,1 %, bei hauptamtlichen Diakonen 1,0 % und bei Ordenspriestern im Gestellungsauftrag 2,1 % [3,4]. Ähnliche Prävalenzen fanden sich in einer Studie aus den USA [5].…”

“…Eine weitere institutionelle Bedingung für den sexuellen Missbrauch von Minderjährigen durch Kleriker könnte in klerikalen Strukturen liegen, die dazu geführt haben, dass Beschuldigungen gegenüber Klerikern als systemgefährdend wahrgenommen wurden und deshalb im Kontext der katholischen Kirche in besonderem Maße versucht wurde, Anschuldigungen zu verharmlosen und zu vertuschen [4]. Die Ergebnisse dieser Untersuchung zeigen deutliche Unterschiede zwischen der katholischen Kirche und anderen Institutionen.…”