Prelate Lorenz Wolf, who was criticized in the course of the Munich abuse report, spoke publicly for the first time at the meeting of the BR Broadcasting Council on Thursday.

It was a "disgrace that sexual abuse happened in the church at all," Wolf said in a statement at the beginning of the public portion of the session.

He is ashamed of having to blame himself: "I would like to ask for forgiveness from the bottom of my heart."

He became a priest and "renounced starting a family" because he wanted to be there "for everyone", "as a helper, as a companion in all situations, with empathy".

He did not always succeed in this when it came to abuse.

The Catholic priest said in his statement that he "always" took on the guilt when he "didn't stand by the victim's side long enough," misjudged situations, didn't hit the right note or didn't hear calls for help.

At the same time, Wolf defended himself against the allegations made against him in the report by the law firm Westphal Spilker Wastl (WSW).

Contrary to what the lawyers say, he did participate in the preparation of the report and answered questions on 20 cases on around 140 pages.

On legal advice, however, he did not respond to the so-called WSW letters of confrontation.

Wolf made it clear that he felt he had been wrongly criticized by the experts in this way.

"Long-winded Defense Speech"

His statement was met with criticism from the Greens in the state parliament, Sanne Kurz and Martin Runge.

The latter accused Wolf of a "long-winded defense speech";

that is an "abuse of this body".

The media policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Helmut Markwort, said in a press statement: By not stepping down as chairman of the broadcasting council, Wolf is further damaging Bavarian broadcasting and the church.

According to the independent report by the Munich law firm WSW, Wolf is said to have made a significant contribution in his offices and functions to covering up and downplaying abuse crimes in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

On January 27, it was announced that Wolf would rest all his offices and tasks.

These include his office as official (supreme church judge), cathedral dean, head of the Catholic office in Bavaria and chairmanship of the BR broadcasting council.

Other victims are reporting

In the meantime, in the two weeks since the report was presented, other affected people have come forward.

The independent contact persons for examining suspected cases received 15 reports that, according to the current status, relate to the area of ​​responsibility of the archdiocese, as reported by a spokeswoman for the diocese.

It is about old and new cases with different relevance.

In addition, there are around a hundred calls to the newly set up hotline of the diocese. However, these came not only from those allegedly affected, but also from “people who are struggling with the question of leaving the church or have a problem with the church and current events, for example because of the role of the Pope Emeritus,” said a spokeswoman. Other callers addressed events in their parishes that concern completely different topics.

The chairman of the diocesan council of Catholics in the archdiocese, Hans Tremmel, called for far-reaching reforms of the church.

First of all, “the inhumane system, in which the protection of the institution so mercilessly took precedence over the reality of people’s lives, must finally end,” wrote the chairman of the archdiocese’s highest lay committee, which represents the volunteers, in an open letter.

By failing to do so, the “institution that was home for us and continues to be for many failed across the board”.

Munich public prosecutor determined

The results of the report led to extensive preliminary investigations at the Munich I public prosecutor's office.

The prosecution will "decide promptly whether an investigation should be initiated with regard to individuals," according to a response from the Ministry of Justice to a request from the SPD in the state parliament that became known on Thursday.

"It is right that the possible criminal liability of those responsible in the church is also being examined - without regard to the person and even if it is the former pope," commented the parliamentary group leader Florian von Brunn, with a view to the emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.