The Catholic Church has lost its function as an ethical and moral compass, according to the German child protection expert Hans Zollner.
The Church was no longer an important moral institution that guided society as a whole, the Jesuit priest told the magazine Cicero in an interview published on Wednesday. It had lost a massive amount of trust since the abuse scandal had come to light.
The loss of trust, however, was “not only or not primarily due to the abuse itself”, Zollner said. What people did not accept at all, and what they justifiably blamed for the lack of credibility, was the systematic cover-up of abuse by bishops, vicars general and personnel managers.
However, there was no statistical evidence that there were more abusers among Catholic priests or employees of the Catholic Church than in other institutions, Zollner added. He said it was therefore implausible to claim that the celibate lifestyle or homosexual behaviour among Catholic clerics had led to more abuse by priests.
Originally reported by KNA Germany.
