MHG study

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The MHG study is an interdisciplinary joint research project on the subject of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and male religious in the area of ​​the German Bishops' Conference . Due to the abbreviations of the institute locations of the consortium members ( M annheim, H eidelberg, G ießen) the research project was given the acronym "MHG study". On August 28, 2013, the project was openly advertised by the Association of Dioceses of Germany (VDD). A consortium of experts from several university institutes in Germany was awarded the contract. The project duration was agreed from July 1, 2014 to December 31, 2017, later extended to September 30, 2018 due to the scope and complexity. The project was funded with a total of € 1,089,312.50 plus VAT.

history

One aim of the study was to record the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests , deacons and male religious within the area of ​​responsibility of the German Bishops' Conference in the period from 1946 to 2014.

Based on the results, 10 of the 27 German dioceses started to commission their own independent studies in different formats in spring 2020.

Consortium members

The consortium consisted of the following members:

report

On September 25, 2018, the research results were presented at the autumn general assembly of the German Bishops' Conference in Fulda.

Materials used

A total of 38,156 personal files from the 27 German dioceses for the period between 1946 and 2014 were evaluated. These files used for sub-project 6 are composed as follows:

  1. the files of already accused clerics from all 27 dioceses,
  2. from ten dioceses (Bamberg, Berlin, Essen, Freiburg, Hamburg, Magdeburg, Paderborn, Speyer and Trier and subsequently Munich-Freising) all personal files,
  3. from the remaining seventeen dioceses (Aachen, Augsburg, Dresden-Meißen, Eichstätt, Erfurt, Fulda, Görlitz, Hildesheim, Cologne, Limburg, Mainz, Münster, Osnabrück, Passau, Regensburg, Rottenburg-Stuttgart and Würzburg) the personal files of all clerics who still lived in 2000, or were consecrated after 2000.

The 38,156 personnel files are therefore only a part of all clerics who were active in the German dioceses from 1946 to 2014. In the study it says literally: “All information on the number and proportions of accused clerics refer to the population of clerics, of whom files were looked through. The number of these people is not identical to the total number of diocesan priests, deacons in the main office and religious priests who were active in the area of ​​responsibility of the German Bishops' Conference between 1946 and 2014 or who were retired, since the existing and reviewed files do not include all files in the The period covered by clerics working in the area of ​​responsibility of the German Bishops' Conference. "

General results

The following percentages indicate the proportion of the accused (priests, deacons, religious) in the total number of files examined (38,156). The total number of people active in the period under study (priests, deacons, religious) is greater than this. Accordingly, there were indications of allegations of sexual abuse of minors in 1,670 clergy (4.4 percent of the files examined). These included 1,429 diocesan priests (5.1 percent of the examined files of diocesan priests), 159 religious priests (2.1 percent of the examined files of religious priests) and 24 full-time deacons (1.0 percent of the examined files of full-time deacons). In 54 percent of the accused there were indications of a single victim, in 42.3 percent indications of several victims between 2 and 44, the average was 2.5. 3,677 children and young people are documented as victims of these crimes; 62.8 percent of them were male, 34.9 percent female, 2.3 percent lacked information on gender. According to the researchers, the clear predominance of male victims differs from the sexual abuse of minors in non-church contexts. The number of 3,677 affected persons determined in the study reflects, according to the researchers, only the so-called “bright field”; From the dark field research of sexual abuse it is known that the number of people actually affected is significantly higher.

  • 3,677 victims of sexual abuse of children and adolescents.
  • 1670 perpetrators allegedly abused. The accused are priests, religious and deacons.
  • 4.4 percent of all clerics in the German dioceses, of whom the personal file was examined, were alleged abusers.

Results at the diocese level

In addition to the nationwide publication of the study, numerous dioceses also presented diocesan results of the study. The personal files of the priests of nine dioceses from January 1, 1946 were evaluated for the study. These were chosen according to randomness and representativeness: Bamberg, Berlin, Essen, Freiburg, Hamburg, Magdeburg, Paderborn, Speyer and Trier. Due to preliminary work, the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising later joined this group. All other dioceses began evaluating the priests' personal files from January 1, 2000.

Diocese Investigation time Personnel files Number of perpetrators relative Number of victims Total payments Therapy costs source
Diocese of Aachen 2000-2014 886 55 6.2% 86 320,000
Diocese of Augsburg 2000-2014 1,483 85 5.7% 164 437,000 40,000
Archdiocese of Bamberg 1946-2014 1,711 41 2.4% 88 119,500
Archdiocese of Berlin 1946-2014 1,401 51 3.6%
Diocese of Dresden-Meißen 2000-2014 345 15th 4.3% 28 96,500
Diocese of Eichstätt 2000-2014 526 10 1.9% 29
Diocese of Erfurt 2000-2014 948 10 1.0% 12? 61,000
Diocese of Essen 1946-2014 1,549 60 3.9% 85/97 262,000 / 534,000
Archdiocese of Freiburg 1946-2014 4.114 190 4.6% 442 1,000,000 380,000
Diocese of Fulda 2000-2014 795 29 3.6% 75 45,500 5,744
Diocese of Görlitz 2000-2014 250 1 0.4% 1 4,000
Archdiocese of Hamburg 1946-2014 660 33 5.0% 103
Diocese of Hildesheim 2000-2014 848 46 5.4% 153 170,000
Archdiocese of Cologne 2000-2014 2,155 87 4.0% 119 620.635
Diocese of Limburg 2000-2014 627 49 7.8% 85 166,000 59,000
Diocese of Magdeburg 1946-2014 677 8th 1.2% 18th 15,000 25,000
Diocese of Mainz 2000-2014 950 53 5.6% 169 275,000 93,000
Archdiocese of Munich and Freising 1946-2018 13,200 164 1.2%
Diocese of Münster 2000-2014 1,708 138 8.1% 450 937.800 186,807
Diocese of Osnabrück 2000-2014 583 35 6.0% 68 81,000
Archdiocese of Paderborn 1946-2014 2,502 111 4.4% 197 456,500
Diocese of Passau 2000-2014 608 28 4.6%
Diocese of Regensburg 2000-2014 1,681 65 3.9% 159
Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart 2000-2014 1,950 72 3.7% 640,000 130,000
Diocese of Speyer 1946-2014 1,452 89 6.1% 186
Diocese of Trier 1946-2014 4,680 148 3.2% 442
Diocese of Würzburg 2000-2014 1,131 62 5.5% 157
Total number > 37,540 1,735 approx. 4.7% > 3,316

It must be noted that there was systematic destruction and manipulation of personal files in two unnamed dioceses. Earlier reports show that files were destroyed in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. Inadequate record keeping is also known for the diocese of Augsburg.

Presentation and reception of the results

reception

In the editorial of Deutsches Ärzteblatt, Peer Briken wrote : "It is good that the MHG research association has succeeded in completing this study and it is good that it is accessible to the medical profession in the Deutsches Ärzteblatt." A study by the Ulm child psychiatrist Jörg Fegert , who, based on the data of the MHG study, examined the large dark field named there , assumes an estimated 114,000 victims of abuse for the Catholic and Protestant Church in Germany. The MHG study is not called into question by the results of the new study. The Ulm study shows, however, that although the 14,847 Catholic priests in Germany (2011) only make up 0.038 percent of the male population, they account for a remarkably high proportion of eight percent of serious criminological abuse. In his study, Fegert also comes to the conclusion that the number of cases of abuse in sport is almost twice as high as in the Catholic Church. Every third competitive athlete reported sexual assault. This is interesting insofar as one cannot think of church-specific reasons such as celibacy, sexual morality and clericalism as causes for sports clubs.

According to recently published results in the journal Psychiatrische Praxis , the accusation rate by priests has not declined since 2009, but has remained largely constant. This is remarkable because as early as 2002 the German Bishops' Conference issued guidelines for dealing with the sexual abuse of minors by clerics, which were revised in 2010 and 2013.

Legal consequences

After the publication of the MHG study, all 23 attorneys general of the Federal Republic met in November 2018. With regard to the upcoming investigations, the three Bavarian attorneys general advocated careful handling of the churches: “Please do not want to bring a riot into the dioceses, no escalation; no legal cavalry running down the doors of the bishops. ”Following the publication of the MHG study, the judiciary in various federal states appealed to the dioceses to report the names of alleged perpetrators. Some dioceses then handed over materials so that the abuse could be dealt with under criminal law.

The results of the MHG study were used by six criminal law professors and the Institute for Weltanschauungsrecht as an opportunity to file criminal charges against unknown persons with suspected sexual abuse of children at the Mainz and Trier public prosecutors. After an examination, the General Public Prosecutor's Office refused to start investigations on February 14, 2019. Jörg Scheinfeld , Advisory Board of the Institute for Weltanschauungsrecht (ifw), and Sarah Willenbacher (both University of Mainz) criticized in the Neue Juristische Wochenschrift (19/2019, p. 1357 ff.) That “in the aftermath of the MHG study there was only one correct one Decision for the public prosecutor's offices in the dioceses (could have): to initiate investigative proceedings against unknown persons - so that the abuse of wards and minors as well as aiding and abetting can be punished. "

Based on the results of the MHG study, the compensation procedure is being revised. Up to now, the “benefits in recognition of the suffering inflicted” by the church in the Federal Republic of Germany have generally been a maximum of 5,000 euros. In contrast, the representatives of those affected are demanding EUR 300,000 per victim, which is more in line with the international comparison framework.

In January 2020, a good one and a half years after the results of the study were published, almost all investigations into suspicious church people in the Bavarian dioceses were discontinued by the three public prosecutor's offices in Munich, Bamberg and Nuremberg, and it was similar in Rhineland-Palatinate.

No canonical penalties

In 2010 Manfred Baldus , honorary professor for canon law, showed that the Codex Juris Canonici provided for a transfer to another office (c. 1336 § 1 No. 4 CIC) as a form of punishment. In general, c. 128 CIC regulates restitution if damage has been caused to another person by a legal act or other culpable act.

The canon lawyer Peter Landau pointed out, however, that the currently valid canon law does not provide for the punishment of moral crimes against minors . The passage in the Codex Juris Canonici, which has been valid since 1917 (“If a cleric with minors under the age of sixteen has sinned badly, ... then he should be suspended, declared infamous, relieved of every office, every benefit, every dignity and in general every employment and in serious cases be punished with dismissal ") was replaced in a reform in 1983 by" CIC 1395, § 2. A cleric who has violated the sixth commandment of the Decalogue in any other way should, if he committed the offense with violence, through threats, publicly or on a minor under the age of sixteen, will be punished with just punishments, possibly not excluding the release from the clergy. ". Landau proposed the following passage as early as 2009: “Anyone who injures a minor by committing a moral crime is subject to the excommunication that already occurs with the act .” None of the bishops of the German Bishops' Conference has taken up this suggestion so far.

A legal reform to “protect the holiness of the sacraments ” ( Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela ), which was enacted in April 2001 by Pope John Paul II and replaced regulations from 1922 regarding sexual assault during confession , only protected the sacrament, but not the victims . In the explanations of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of 2010 it says: “The conviction that a comprehensive legal regulation with regard to the sexual behavior of persons with educational responsibility is necessary is very recent.”

Church reactions

In response to the results of the MHG study, the bishop of the Görlitz diocese, Wolfgang Ipolt , announced on October 5, 2018, to express his "solidarity with the victims" with a day of fasting.

Cardinal Walter Brandmüller said of the reactions to the study: “What abuse has happened in the church is nothing other than what happens in society at all.” And further: “It is no less unrealistic to forget or to keep quiet that 80 percent of the abuse cases in the church environment concerned male adolescents, not children. "

In an essay published in April 2019, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. the movement of 68 jointly responsible for the abuse cases.

At the beginning of July 2019, the pastor emeritus in Münster, Ulrich Zurkuhlen, advertised in a free sermon to forgive each other, specifically also to those priests who sexually abused minors as perpetrators. Representatives of the Münster diocese made it clear that, in all efforts to come to terms with sexual abuse, “the focus is first on the victims and not the perpetrators”.

At the end of January 2020, the Regensburg Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer questioned the quality of the study at the first general assembly of the so-called “ Synodal Way ” and called for a scientific symposium. Vorholzer had already warned in 2018 against an "abuse of abuse". Father Dominikus Kraschl OFM , Professor of Philosophy and History of Philosophy at the Theological University in Chur , emphasizes with regard to the “Synodal Path” the MHG study does not reveal what it is used for. Blind spots, about which the authors of the study did not want to talk, are "about homosexual subcultures in the clergy".

In February 2020, the Bishop of Trier, Stephan Ackermann , proposed in his function as abuse commissioner of the Catholic Church to finance the compensation of abuse victims from church tax funds, whereby all members of the church who are subject to church tax would have to pay for the abuse as a "solidarity community" and would thus be made indirectly responsible. The demand is currently assumed to be around one billion euros.

criticism

The course of the study and some sub-projects were criticized because of the sometimes fluctuating scientific quality. Manfred Lütz called the study “spectacularly unsuccessful”. The scientists of the Independent Commission for the Processing of Child Sexual Abuse wrote in a statement: “As important as the MHG study is, the researchers were limited by the commissioning. As a result, central questions remain unanswered. ”At that time , it was criticized that scientists did not have direct access to files and that the file contents were only given to them for their knowledge. The authors of the MHG study emphasize in a publication in the Deutsches Ärzteblatt : “The figures determined are to be regarded as the lower estimate of the abuse that actually occurred. Asymmetrical power relations and a closed system, as it prevails in the Catholic Church, can favor sexual abuse. ”Overall, the results have received a lot of attention in the international press, with the New York Times quoting the criminologist Christian Pfeiffer as saying:“ The report does not give the full picture, and is not fully independent. " In the 40/2019 edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt, two critical letters to the editor about the MHG study were published. The first, which was written by Horst Gann, specialist in neurology and psychiatry, psychotherapy in Walldorf, accuses the MHG study of a lack of seriousness and care. One has the impression that the authors of the MHG study were interested in "constructing causal connections to common church-critical topics on the basis of weak data." In the second letter to the editor from Martina Häring, specialist in psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy, psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, one very critical of the specific recommendation made by Mr Dreßing. Indeed, he is of the opinion that in patients who name symptoms that could be traced back to abuse, “the possibility of abuse suffered in the context of the Catholic Church. . . should be carefully explored ”. However, 99.9% of all abusers are not representatives of the Catholic Church, according to the psychiatrist. In addition, the symptoms that can occur are so unspecific and the topic is so delicate that “doctors would be ill advised to address this in the consultation hour.” In the study, she senses an anti-church campaign that is little about the victims. In issue 2/2019 of the journal Forensische Psychiatrie, Psychologie, Kriminologie , Hans-Ludwig Kröber takes a critical look at the MHG study. He criticizes the fact that the MHG study deliberately distracts from the fact that sexual abuse by clerics has drastically decreased since the late 1990s, and much more so than in the general population. In addition, the MHG study does not provide an explanation for the fact that a large number of abusers see themselves as "left, progressive teachers who criticized the restrictive Catholic sexual morality as retrograde and tried to convince the affected students of their own sexual assault as an act of sexual liberation . “On the contrary, the MHG study identifies restrictive sexual morality as one of the main reasons for sexual abuse. Kröber can only explain the silence of the considerable decline in the number of cases since 1990 because of church political reasons.

See also

literature

  • Harald Dreßing, Dieter Dölling, Dieter Hermann, Barbara Horten, Alexandra Collong, Andreas Kruse, Eric Schmitt, Jörg Hinner, Britta Bannenberg, Andreas Hoell, Elke Voss, Hans Joachim Salize: How active is the Catholic Church in preventing sexual abuse? First results of the MHG study . In: Psychiatrische Praxis , 45 (02), 2018, pp. 103-105. doi: 10.1055 / s-0043-111074
  • Harald Dreßing, Dieter Dölling, Dieter Hermann, Andreas Kruse, Eric Schmitt, Britta Bannenberg, Andreas Hoell, Elke Voss, Hans Joachim Salize: Sexual abuse by Catholic clerics. Retrospective cohort study on the extent and health consequences of the minors affected (MHG study) . In: Deutsches Arzteblatt Int. , 116, 2019, pp. 389–396 ( doi: 10.3238 / arztebl.2019.0389 ).
  • Harald Dreßing: "The protection of the institution obviously had priority over the protection of children": the MHG study: Sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and male religious in the area of ​​the German Bishops' Conference . In: The Voice of the Family , 66, 2019, no. 3, pp. 13–15.
  • Harald Dreßing, Dieter Dölling, Dieter Hermann, Barbara Horten, Alexandra Collong, Andreas Kruse, Eric Schmitt, Jörg Hinner, Britta Bannenberg, Andreas Hoell, Elke Voss, Hans Joachim Salize: Sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests since 2009: course and relative Frequency compared to the general male population . In: Psychiatrische Praxis , 46, 2019, pp. 1–7. doi: 10.1055 / a-0936-3869 .
  • Gerhard Kruip : Affliction and regret are not enough: what must follow the MHG study . In: Herder-Korrespondenz , 72, 2018, no . 11, pp. 13-16, ISSN  0018-0645
  • Stefan Orth : Laborious change of perspective . In: Herder-Korrespondenz 73 (2019), H. 1, S. 4f ISSN  0018-0645
  • Stefan Orth: Abuse crisis: Theological analysis is intensifying . In: Herder-Korrespondenz , 73, 2019, H. 3, S. 11 f., ISSN  0018-0645

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. German Bishops' Conference: Research project MHG study (as of June 12, 2018)
  2. Andreas Otto: Ten dioceses have started their own abuse studies. Further search for the truth , in: domradio.de from April 29, 2020, viewed on May 29, 2020.
  3. Press release of the German Bishops' Conference from September 2018 (as of January 10, 2019).
  4. Harald Dreßing, Hans Joachim Salize, Dieter Dölling, Dieter Hermann, Andreas Kruse, Eric Schmitt, Britta Bannenberg, Andreas Hoell, Elke Voß, Alexandra Collong, Barbara Horten, Jörg Hinner: Sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and male religious in the area of ​​the German Bishops' Conference . Project report, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Gießen, September 24, 2018, p. 250 f.
  5. Harald Dreßing, Hans Joachim Salize, Dieter Dölling, Dieter Hermann, Andreas Kruse, Eric Schmitt, Britta Bannenberg, Andreas Hoell, Elke Voß, Alexandra Collong, Barbara Horten, Jörg Hinner: Sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and male religious in the area of ​​the German Bishops' Conference . Project report, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Gießen, September 24, 2018, p. 253.
  6. See Harald Dreßing, Hans Joachim Salize, Dieter Dölling, Dieter Hermann, Andreas Kruse, Eric Schmitt, Britta Bannenberg, Andreas Hoell, Elke Voß, Alexandra Collong, Barbara Horten, Jörg Hinner, Sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and male members of the order in the area of ​​the German Bishops' Conference, project report, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Gießen, September 24, 2018, p. 250 f .; see. also the quotation from page 253 of the study in this article under the heading "Materials used".
  7. Agathe Lukassek, Felix Neumann, Steffen Zimmermann: Abuse: These are the numbers from the dioceses . In: kathisch.de, September 25, 2018.
  8. Information from the German Bishops' Conference
  9. Christoph Pauli: Shame about the failure of an institution . In: Aachener Nachrichten , September 25, 2018.
  10. MHG study published: Diocese of Augsburg presents the most important diocesan results, accessed on June 5, 2019
  11. ^ "Shocking": 88 cases of abuse in the Archdiocese of Bamberg . In: Northern Bavaria, January 16, 2019.
  12. ^ Notes on 51 alleged perpetrators in the Archdiocese of Berlin . rbb24.de, September 25, 2018.
  13. Press release of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen from September 25, 2018.
  14. Diocese publishes abuse figures . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, October 23, 2018.
  15. Diocese of Erfurt is examining other files for evidence of sexual abuse . mdr Thuringia, January 29, 2019.
  16. Thomas Rünker: Processing of the abuse cases in the diocese of Essen . In: Press menu of the Diocese of Essen, March 14, 2019
  17. Diocese of Fulda - 75 people were affected by sexual abuse. In: Fuldaer Zeitung , September 25, 2018.
  18. ^ Sebastian Engelbrecht: Former altar boy incriminates bishop and priest . Deutschlandfunk , November 23, 2018.
  19. Hildesheim: allegations of abuse are being investigated . NDR, March 3, 2019.
  20. Abuse: Peter R. loses all priestly rights . NDR, May 22, 2019.
  21. Zero tolerance announced. Domradio.de, September 25, 2018.
  22. Lisa Gessner: Diocese of Limburg: External experts should investigate cases of abuse . hessenschau.de, April 5, 2019.
  23. Bernd Kaufholz: Priest of the Magdeburg diocese transferred . In: Volksstimme, September 25, 2019.
  24. Abuse in the Diocese of Mainz: 53 accused and 169 victims . Süddeutsche Zeitung , September 25, 2018, accessed on August 10, 2020 . .
  25. Data and information on the MHG study from the Diocese of Osnabrück . (PDF)
  26. Press release diocese of Regensburg (PDF) from September 25, 2018.
  27. Abuse: Diocese of Würzburg gives 13 files to the public prosecutor . in: BR 24, June 1, 2019.
  28. ^ Raoul Löbbert: No bishop resigns . in: Zeit-Online, September 26, 2018.
  29. Archdiocese of Munich is said to have systematically covered up abuse . Spiegel Online , December 3, 2010.
  30. ^ Abuse study: extent in Bavarian dioceses alarming . BR, September 25, 2018.
  31. The long way of processing. May 31, 2019, accessed June 5, 2019 .
  32. ↑ The dark field for abuse by priests is higher than expected . In: Focus , March 12, 2019.
  33. Voices: New study on the extent does not question the MHG study . Domradio.de, March 13, 2019.
  34. Heike Vowinkel: The true extent of child sexual abuse . in: Die Welt, March 12, 2019.
  35. Andrea Schältke: Sexual abuse in sport. "Twice as many cases as in the Catholic Church". In: Deutschlandfunk. July 12, 2019, accessed October 17, 2019 .
  36. MHG study: allegations of abuse against priests have not declined since 2009 . , July 3, 2019.
  37. Ronen Steinke: When the Church puts itself above the rule of law . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, February 22, 2019.
  38. Nicolas Richter, Ronen Steinke: Why only a few perpetrators are punished . in: Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 22, 2019.
  39. Jürgen Brauer: Criminal complaint by six criminal law professors against unknown persons for the sexual abuse of children in the area of ​​the German Bishops' Conference . in: Communication from the General Public Prosecutor's Office in Koblenz, February 14, 2019.
  40. Jörg Scheinfeld in NJW 19/2019: “Initial suspicion when reported against unknown persons. Clerical child abuse and the principle of legality ” . weltanschauungsrecht.de, May 2, 2019.
  41. Felix Bohr: Victims of abuse demand billions in compensation . Spiegel Online , May 31, 2019.
  42. Britta Schultejans: Bavaria does not punish a single abuse . n-tv, January 19, 2020; accessed on January 21, 2020.
  43. Gaby Mayr: One year after the abuse study. Many perpetrators, little justice . Deutschlandfunk Kultur, September 23, 2019; accessed January 21, 2020.
  44. Bishopric lists on sexual abuse almost finished . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , February 6, 2020.
  45. Manfred Baldus: Canon law as a suitable basis for appropriate sanctioning . Legal Tribune Online, May 25, 2010.
  46. Can. 1395 §2, Codex Iuris Canonici / 1983 German accessed on February 7, 2020.
  47. Peter Landau: Guest Comment: Excommunicate immediately. How canon law for abuse should be reformed . in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, October 1, 2018.
  48. ^ Robert Werner: Diocese of Regensburg between "lies and deceit" and investigations by the public prosecutor . regensburg.digital, October 29, 2019.
  49. From initial suspicion to dismissal from the clergy . domradio.de, February 8, 2019.
  50. ^ Bishop von Görlitz asks victims of abuse from the Catholic Church for forgiveness . mdr, September 25, 2018.
  51. Cardinal calls outrage over abuse in the Church hypocrisy . in: Spiegel-Online, January 4, 2019.
  52. Amelie Graen: The way Benedict comments on the abuse cases is inhumane . In: Stern, April 12, 2019.
  53. Outrage over abusive preaching . RP-Online, July 4, 2019.
  54. Bishop Voderholzer: "Take a closer look at the MHG study" . In: Vatican News, January 31, 2020.
  55. ^ Regensburg bishop on church discussion according to MHG study. Voderholzer warns against instrumentalizing the abuse . kathisch.de, December 18, 2018.
  56. Dominikus Kraschl: The emergence of the synodal founding myth . In: Die Tagespost , February 4, 2020.
  57. Rainer Hank: The bishops are driving the wrong way . in: FAZ , February 2, 2020.
  58. The Limits of the MHG Study . in: Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk , September 25, 2018,
  59. Manfred Lütz: Abuse study mangehaft and counterproductive. In: The daily mail . September 25, 2018, accessed April 14, 2019 .
  60. ^ Opinion of the independent commission on the processing of child sexual abuse on the study "Sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and male religious in the area of ​​the German Bishops' Conference" (MHG study). Processing commission. In: Processing Commission. Accessed June 5, 2019 (German).
  61. Evelyn Finger, Veronika Völlinger: Sexual abuse: The extent of the crime . In: Die Zeit , No. 38/2018.
  62. Harald Dreßing, Dieter Dölling, Dieter Hermann, Andreas Kruse, Eric Schmitt, Britta Bannenberg, Andreas Hoell, Elke Voss, Hans Joachim Salize: Sexual abuse by Catholic clerics. Retrospective cohort study on the extent and health consequences of the minors affected (MHG study) . In: Deutsches Arzteblatt Int. , 116, 2019, pp. 389–396 ( doi: 10.3238 / arztebl.2019.0389 ).
  63. Katrin Bennhold, Melissa Eddy: In German Catholic Churches, Child Sex Abuse Victims Top 3,600, Study Finds . In: New York Times , September 12, 2018.
  64. Horst Gann: Lack of seriousness and care . In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt . tape 116 , no. 40 , 2019, pp. 679 ( aerzteblatt.de ).
  65. Helmut Dreßing u. a .: Sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy - a retrospective cohort study of its extent and health consequences for affeced minors (The MHG Study) . tape 116 , no. 22 , p. 389-396 ( aerzteblatt.de ).
  66. ^ A b Martina Häring: Wrongly in the pillory . tape 116 , no. 40 , 2019, pp. 679 ( aerzteblatt.de ).
  67. Hans-Ludwig Kröber: Sharp decrease in abuse offenses by Catholic clerics . In: Forensic Psychiatry, Psychology, Criminology . tape 13 , no. 2 , 2019, ISSN  1862-7072 , doi : 10.1007 / s11757-019-00535-6 ( springermedizin.de ).
  68. Hans-Ludwig Kröber: The abuse scandal does not last. A forensic-psychiatric perspective on the crisis . In: Herder correspondence . tape 72 , no. 12 . Herder, 2018, p. 20–22 ( herder.de ).