VATICAN CITY — More than 500 boys suffered abuse at the hands of
dozens of teachers and priests at the school that trains the prestigious boys
choir of the Regensburg Cathedral in Germany, said an independent investigator.
Former students of the Domspatzen choir reported that the
physical, emotional and even sexual abuse at the school made life there like
"a prison, hell and a concentration camp," said Ulrich Weber, the
lawyer leading the investigation of claims of abuse at the choir and two
associated boarding schools.
A "culture of silence" among church leaders and members
allowed such abuse to continue for decades, Weber said as he presented the
final report on his findings during a news conference in Regensburg July 18.
The investigation, commissioned by the Diocese of Regensburg,
found that at least 547 former members of the Regensburg Domspatzen boys choir
in Germany were subjected to some form of abuse, according to Vatican Radio. Of
those victims, 67 students were victims of sexual violence, the radio said.
But Weber told the Regensburg news conference that many former
victims had declined to come forward during his two-year inquiries into the
Domspatzen, adding that he believed the real number could be closer to 700.
Regensburg church sources said around 300 financial compensation
claims had been received from abuse victims, adding that 450,000 euros
(US$518,000) had been paid out by the diocese so far.
The 440-page report, which spanned the years between 1945 and the
early 1990s, found highly plausible accusations against 49 members of the
church of inflicting the abuse, with nine of them accused of being sexual
abusive. The Diocese of Regensburg and the Domspatzen choir supplied links to
the report and related news stories or resources on their respective web sites:
www.bistum-regensburg.de and www.domspatzen.de.
In the report, Weber sharply criticized Cardinal Gerhard Muller,
who was bishop of Regensburg from 2002 until 2012, when Pope Benedict appointed
him to head the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Then-Bishop Muller had "a clear responsibility" in the
"strategic, organizational and communication weaknesses" that marked
the process he launched of reviewing allegations. Cardinal Muller had ordered
the creation of a commission to investigate and search through diocesan
archives in the wake of the 2010 abuse crisis.
One of the first Domspatzen student-victims to come forward in
2010 with allegations of sexual abuse, Alexander Probst, told Deutsche Welle
July 18 that he had been very frustrated and angry with the way then-Bishop Muller
reacted to his claims. He said the bishop accused him of denouncing the church.
In the interview, whose link could be found on the Regensburg
boys' choir website, Probst said he felt the bishop actively protected abusers,
and that "it got even worse when he was appointed head of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith; it was like putting a fox in charge of the
henhouse."
"It was only after the new bishop of Regensburg, Rudolf
Voderholzer, realized that there was much more to all this than met the eye
when things began to get better. Starting in 2015, he personally wanted to
cooperate with us," Probst said.
Widespread news of the suspected abuse first emerged in 2010 as
religious orders and bishops' conferences in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands
were faced with a flood new allegations of the sexual abuse of children, mainly
at Catholic schools.
The boys' choir had been led between 1964 and 1994 by Msgr. Georg
Ratzinger, the older brother of retired Pope Benedict XVI.
In an interview with the German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse in
2010, Msgr. Ratzinger apologized to victims at his former school, even though
he said he had been unaware of the alleged incidents.
"There was never any talk of sexual abuse problems, and I
had no idea that molestation was taking place," the priest said, as he
recalled his 30 years as the school's choirmaster.
Msgr. Ratzinger had said when he served at the school,
"there was a climate of discipline and rigor ... but also of human
understanding, almost like a family." He knew that the priest who headed
the school from 1953 until his death in 1992 had slapped boys in the face, but
said he had not considered such punishments "particularly brutal."
"If I'd known the exaggerated vehemence with which the director
acted, I would have reacted," he said in the 2010 interview.
In his report, Weber said Msgr. Ratzinger should have known about
at least some cases of physical violence, but that his role "was still not
at all clear."
Msgr. Michael Fuchs, diocesan vicar general, described Msgr.
Ratzinger as a "passionate musician, priest and pedagogue" and an
"emotional person," who had personally regretted slapping pupils
during his 30 years as the school's choirmaster and apologized to Domspatzen
victims.
"I have no information to suggest his account, expressed
many times, needs to be revised," Msgr. Fuchs told the news conference.
Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a member of the Pontifical Commission
for the Protection of Minors, told Vatican Radio the new report shows how
Bishop Voderholzer "has taken seriously all the allegations" and is
"very courageous in taking on an issue that has been looming for many
years."
It is only now that the facts have become "plain, in the
light of day" because of establishing and cooperating with a professional,
independent investigation, he said.
This latest report should inspire church leaders around the
world, Father Zollner said, "so that they do the same today because this
will help, first of all, those who have been harmed in the past."
Contributing to this story was Jonathan Luxmoore.