Retired pope urged to make statement on German abuse report

Following the publication of an experts’ report on how sexual abuse was handled in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, the German Catholic news agency KNA spoke to Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors since its creation and president of the Institute of Anthropology: Interdisciplinary Studies on Human Dignity and Care at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University. Father Zollner said, “Each one individually should take a concrete, perceptible and understandable position and signal that they understand. The lawyer (Marion) Westpfahl said some-thing that I also noticed in my discussions with theologians: Church representatives give the impression that they do not believe in the power of the sacra-ment of reconciliation – the confession – when they deal with the sins and failures of those in position of responsibility. Examination of conscience – in this case: the experts’ report – confession, repentance and an act of compensation: All these are, according to classic Catholic teaching, a condition for forgiveness. This is true for individuals, but also for dioceses and bishops’ conferences.”