Current:Home > reviewsReport on sex abuse in Germany’s Protestant Church documents at least 2,225 victims -Horizon Finance School
Report on sex abuse in Germany’s Protestant Church documents at least 2,225 victims
View
Date:2025-04-27 20:09:38
BERLIN (AP) — At least 1,259 people working for the Protestant Church of Germany have committed sexual abuse in the last decades and at least 2,225 victims were affected by the abuse according to an independent report published Thursday.
The numbers are based on the study of documents and files from the regional churches and the Lutherans’ diaconal relief and social welfare organization, known as Diakonie.
However, the authors said they were not able to analyze the personnel files of all pastors and deacons within the church, but primarily disciplinary files. They estimated that the real number of perpetrators is much higher, with nearly 3,500 people who have committed sexual abuse, German news agency dpa reported.
“It’s the tip of the tip of the iceberg,” said Martin Wazlawik from Hannover University, who coordinated the study on sexualized violence in the Protestant Church in Germany.
The church commissioned the study in 2020 and financed it with 3.6 million euros ($3.92 million), with the goal of analyzing structures within the church that promote violence and abuse of power. As an umbrella organization of 20 regional churches, the EKD represents 19.2 million Protestant Christians in Germany.
At the presentation of the study in Hannover, the head of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany, also known as EKD, apologized to the victims “wholeheartedly.”
“As an institution, we have also been guilty of countless crimes against countless people,” Hamburg Bishop Kirsten Fehrs said, adding that she was “deeply shocked” by the overall picture presented by the study.
“Ever since I have been dealing with this topic, I have been sincerely shaken by the abysmal violence that has been inflicted on so many people in our church,” Fehrs said, adding that the church would accept the results of the study “with humility.”
This report comes several years after Germany’s Catholic Church published staggering numbers on sexual abuse by its clergy.
In 2018, a church-commissioned report concluded that at least 3,677 people were abused by Catholic clergy in Germany between 1946 and 2014. More than half the victims were 13 or younger, and nearly a third served as altar boys.
veryGood! (8767)
Related
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- AP Was There: The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 draws hundreds of thousands
- A veteran Los Angeles politician has been sentenced to more than 3 years in prison for corruption
- Medicaid expansion won’t begin in North Carolina on Oct. 1 because there’s still no final budget
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- Dollar General shooting victims identified after racially-motivated attack in Jacksonville
- The Fate of The Idol Revealed Following Season One
- 'World champion of what?' Noah Lyles' criticism sparks backlash by NBA players
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- 'The wrong home': South Carolina student fatally shot, killed outside neighbor's house
Ranking
- Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
- Mandy Moore cheers on ex Andy Roddick and his wife Brooklyn Decker: 'So happy for him'
- Bachelor Nation's Hannah Brown Engaged to Adam Woolard
- Taylor Swift Jokes About Kanye West Interruption During Eras Tour
- Bill Belichick's salary at North Carolina: School releases football coach's contract details
- Jessica Simpson opens up about constant scrutiny of her weight: 'It still remains the same'
- Millie Bobby Brown details romance with fiancé Jake Bongiovi, special connection to engagement ring
- CBS New York speaks to 3 women who attended the famed March on Washington
Recommendation
Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
Job vacancies, quits plunge in July in stark sign of cooling trend in the US job market
House Republicans move closer to impeachment inquiry
'Claim to Fame' winner Gabriel Cannon on 'unreal' victory, identifying Chris Osmond
From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
US Supreme Court Justice Barrett says she welcomes public scrutiny of court
The math problem: Kids are still behind. How can schools catch them up?
Dentist accused of killing wife by poisoning her protein shakes set to enter a plea to charges