The bishop of Bolzano and Bressanone,
Ivo Muser, on Friday asked for the forgiveness of victims and
local communities following a report that confirmed 67 cases of
sexual abuse in Alto Adige's Catholic Church over the past six
decades, saying cultural change was necessary to prevent abuse
in the future.
"I ask for the forgiveness of the people involved, of parish
communities and worshippers and stress that the commissioned
report is not a point of arrival but a mandate to continue
working with all determination possible", said the bishop after
the publication of the study on Monday.
"Cultural change is necessary because facts like these could
happen again if, as has occurred, we look the other way", he
added.
During a press conference, the bishop of Bolzano and Bressanone
also said he personally took "responsibility for omissions"
during his time in office, "including insuffient controls on
suspected priests, reluctance to adopt clear preventive measures
towards the priests accused and poor documentation in outlining
the steps to manage abuse cases".
Bishop Muser announced a series of measures to prevent future
abuse cases in the Church.
"There will be clear procedures with a group of experts who will
develop binding guidelines to manage abuse cases, which will be
implemented by the end of 2025", he said.
Moreover, added the bishop, suspected cases will be pursued with
an "interdisciplinary institute to examine, with immediate
effect, all cases of priests who face accusations and are still
alive and propose measures for the subsequent steps to be
taken".
The report issued earlier this week said there were 67
confirmed cases of sexual abuse involving the Catholic church in
Alto Adige between 1963 and 2023.
The research was carried out by Munich law firm
Westpfahl-Spilker-Wastl for the Diocese of Bozen and Bressanone
and was presented on Monday.
The report said the cases regarded 24 priests and 59 victims.
The average age of the priests was between 28 and 35 years,
while that of the victims was between 8 and 14 years.
It said just over 50% of the victims were girls.
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