Damning report of clerical child sex abuse in Münster

A damning report of clerical child sex abuse has been published in the German diocese of Münster. The independent report was carried out by the University of Münster

The diocese lies in the state of North Rhine Wesfalia and includes an area which has a significantly large Catholic population.

The study covers the period between 1945 and 2020. In that period 196 clerics sexually abused over 600 children. But there are hints that there could have been between five and six thousand under-age young people abused by clerics.

The report has received much publicity in the German media over the last number of days.

The current bishop of the diocese is Felix Genn. He admits failures had been made and criticised previous bishops in the diocese. He also said that he is part of the organisation from which the perpetrators came.

But Genn says he won't be resigning in light of the report, which criticises the way he dealt with sexual abuse.  The bishop has stressed that he never attempted to cover up any of the wrongdoing.