Bernhard Ehlen

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Bernhard Ehlen SJ (2007)

Bernhard Ehlen SJ (born March 5, 1939 in Berlin ) is a German Jesuit and founder of the "Doctors for Developing Countries" (now German Doctors ). He was suspended as a priest from 2010 until the conclusion of his criminal case in June 2015 because of admitted sexual abuse of children and wards.

Life

In 1958 Ehlen entered the Jesuit order. After graduating from the Canisius College in Berlin , he studied philosophy , theology and education . After his ordination in 1968, he was a religion teacher at the Canisius College from 1970 to 1971. After that he was youth chaplain in Hanover until 1975 as well as religion teacher at the high schools Bismarckschule and Tellkampfschule and until 1981 teacher and active in youth work in Berlin. From 1982 to 1983 he was a teacher and youth chaplain at the Sankt Ansgar School in Hamburg.

In 1981 he also joined the Cap Anamur Committee and worked as a project coordinator in refugee camps in Somalia . His idea for the aid organization “Doctors for Developing Countries”, which he founded in 1983, arose from these experiences. He worked in their management until 2006. For this task his order gave him the option for the poor . From 1986 to 2010 (resignation) he was a member of the four-person board of “Doctors for Developing Countries”.

From 1984 to 2010 he lived in the Ignatiushaus in Frankfurt am Main and now lives in the Caritas nursing home of the Jesuits in Cologne-Mülheim.

Allegations of abuse and suspension

After an abuse victim Ehlens from the time of his youth work in Hanover and on condition that the information was treated confidentially contacted the order in 2005 and this in turn informed a board member of the aid organization, Ehlen took over as managing director of “Doctors for Developing Countries” in summer 2006 “But stayed on the board. The informed board member kept the process to himself. From 2007 Ehlen took care of partner projects and offered discussion groups on philosophical-theological topics for the medical staff. Only in the course of abuse allegations against two other Jesuits who, like Ehlen, had taught at the Canisius College in Berlin, did the allegations against him become public in January 2010. According to the Provincial of the German Province of the Jesuit Order, Stefan Dartmann , Ehlen had pleaded guilty in a statute-barred case and reported himself to the police; Due to the statute of limitations, the public prosecutor discontinued the process. However, Ehlen is named as the perpetrator in the Jesuit Order's public report on the abuse cases from 2010. He was also suspended from the priestly service. On February 2, 2010, he resigned from the board of “Doctors for Developing Countries” and is no longer a member.

Awards and demotions

  • In 1993 Bernhard Ehlen received an honorary doctorate from the Xavier University of the Jesuit Order in Cagayan de Oro in the Philippines. On March 4, 2017, the University's Board of Trustees revoked his honorary doctorate.
  • In 1999 he received an honorary doctorate from the Medical Faculty of the University of Graz . In its session on June 30, 2010, the university senate dismissed Ehlen from his honorary doctorate.
  • In June 2008 he received the German Medical Association's Decoration of Honor . In April 2010 Ehlen was deleted from the "List of Carriers of Honor for the German Medical Association".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Prot. 33/2010 of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, CDF Decreto il 17 July 2015.
  2. ^ Hannoversche Allgemeine: Respected Jesuit admits sexual assault in Hanover , February 3, 2010
  3. ↑ a b Website “Ignatiushaus” in Frankfurt am Main , accessed on February 11, 2016.
  4. ^ Albert Giesener SJ: The senior community "Friedrich Spee" in the Caritas nursing home in Cologne-Mülheim. In: jesuitensenioren-koeln.de. Retrieved August 31, 2016 .
  5. ↑ a b Frankfurter Rundschau: Father admits child abuse , February 3, 2010
  6. ↑ Frankfurter Rundschau: “Massively deceived” , February 5, 2010
  7. ↑ a b Doctors for Developing Countries : Declaration by the Secretary General , February 3, 2010
  8. ↑ a b February 3, 2010, 10:04 am KNA Katholische Nachrichten-Agentur GmbH
  9. ↑ Berliner Morgenpost: Former Canisius teacher confesses abuse , February 3, 2010
  10. ↑ Report on cases of sexual abuse in schools and other institutions of the Jesuit Order - May 27, 2010 ( Memento of April 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF), accessed on February 13, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Ehlen, Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Catholic suspended priest and founder of Doctors for Developing Countries
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin