A Catholic priest is said to have passed away in the 1970s in the North Rhine-Westphalian town of Rhede at numerous children. Now it became known that the man had previously been convicted of sexual abuse.
At an information event in the affected parish "The Holy Family" in Rhede in the western Münsterland explained the diocese of Münster the more detailed backgrounds. Accordingly, the man ordained a priest in 1964 was convicted in 1968 by the district court Bochum to a suspended sentence for fornication with a dependent child.
Nevertheless, the bishop of the diocese of Münster, Reinhard Lettmann, who died in 2013, transferred the chaplain to Rhede in 1971. There, the priest went to diocesan information to numerous children. The exact number is unknown.
Bishop apologizes
Deputy Vicar General of the diocese, Jochen Reidegeld, asked the sacrifices in Rhede for forgiveness at the congregation on behalf of Bishop Felix Genn. Reidegeld called for his own church to enable women to gain access to ministries as quickly as possible and break up structures such as "men's leagues", which are considered the cause of the cover-up of abuse in the church.
The Catholic Church had presented a sexual abuse study in September. According to that, between 1946 and 2014, at least 1670 Catholic clerics allegedly abused 3677 minors. In the diocese of Münster 138 clerics found references to allegations of sexual abuse of minors.