Five private individuals have filed criminal complaints against the former archbishop of Freiburg, Robert Zollitsch, following the publication of a study on abuse in the archdiocese. Zollitsch was president of the German Bishops’ Conference from 2008 to 2014. The main body representing Catholic laypeople in Germany has distanced itself from him.
Five private individuals have filed criminal complaints against the former Bishops’ Conference president and archbishop Robert Zollitsch (84), the state prosecutor’s office in the southwestern German city confirmed.
The authority did not say whether abuse victims were among the complainants. It said it was investigating whether an obstruction of justice occurred and also examining whether the abuse report provided new indications of possible criminal offences.
Zollitsch was personnel officer of the Archdiocese of Freiburg from 1983 to 2003 and archbishop from 2003 to 2014. He was president of the German Bishops’ Conference from 2008 to 2014.
The authors of the abuse report accused the now 84-year-old of breaking the law, protecting perpetrators and covering up sexualised violence. Zollitsch has not yet commented on the new findings. He referred to a video message he issued in October 2022, in which he admitted mistakes and asked the victims of abuse for forgiveness.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), the umbrella organisation of Catholic laypeople in Germany, has distanced itself from the former head of the Bishops’ Conference.
ZdK President Irme Stetter-Karp, who was also a member of the presidium of the Synodal Path German reform consultations, sharply criticised Zollitsch. She said he was a hypocrite who had completely ignored canon law in dealing with abuse, lied to the public and protected abusers.
She described the “discussion process” organised by Zollitsch in 2010 after the scandal was uncovered – the forerunner of the Synodal Path – as a diversionary manoeuvre intended to mask the problems.
The “discussion process” and the later Synodal Path were launched by the German Bishops’ Conference and the ZdK in a joint bid to respond to the abuse scandal.
Originally reported by KNA Germany.
