German minister meets Pope to discuss church paedophilia

Pope Francis and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Wednesday

  VATICAN CITY - The Catholic Church in Germany is in crisis. Not only for the long-requested reforms on matters such as gay marriage, female priests and priests’ celibacy, but also for the ongoing lack of transparency with which the Church has managed the paedophilia of the past - priests being covertly transferred between different parishes and dioceses, and victims put in situations in which they can’t defend themselves.

  The dire situation, reports Il Messaggero, is one of the reasons behind Wednesday’s meeting between Pope Francis and Germany’s Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas. Maas said in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt that, along with Europe and the Covid vaccine, one of the topics that would undoubtedly come up in his audience with the pope would be sexual abuse in the Church.

  Though a shocking topic for many people, it is one that, as Maas explained, “determines the relationship of the people with their religious community.” The Social Democratic Party minister added that he would like to know “how the Catholic Church, and in particular the pope,” intends to deal with the problem.

  For Maas, the State is required to act on such things, especially when it concerns criminal matters. In Germany, unlike in Italy, bishops and priests are legally required to report any instances and perpetrators of paedophilia to the police.

  

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