The Catholic dioceses and religious orders in Germany paid a total of 9.4 million euros last year as so-called recognition services to those affected by sexual abuse.

This emerges from the first activity report of the Independent Commission for Recognition Services (UKA), which was presented on Thursday.

Accordingly, the UKA awarded a total of 12.9 million euros in recognition payments;

3.5 million euros of this were offset against payments already made by the church institution or the accused.

The money was transferred to a total of 606 victims.

This means that the total amount of recognition services has increased significantly after the introduction of the new procedure and the establishment of the UKA at the beginning of 2021.

Thomas Jansen

Editor in Politics.

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According to the UKA, 1,565 people affected applied for recognition benefits last year, eighty percent of whom were men and twenty percent women.

During this period, however, the Commission decided on only 616 cases, 949 cases are still awaiting a decision.

The Advisory Council of the German Bishops' Conference had repeatedly complained that the processing time was too long and called for better staffing of the commission.

As a result, the bishops' conference expanded the commission by four members to eleven.

It also accelerated the procedure: the decisions no longer all have to be made in the plenum, but can also be discussed in three arbitration chambers.

"Couldn't be more sober and distant"

The German Bishops' Conference had raised the maximum amount of recognition payments in 2021 from 5,000 to 50,000 euros.

It was based on the amount of compensation for pain and suffering in a state court process;

in "particular hardship cases" the payments can also exceed this sum.

According to the activity report, the UKA awarded payments of more than 50,000 euros in 47 of 616 cases, in six cases the amount was over the hundred thousand mark.

However, with 267 cases, recognition payments of up to 10,000 euros make up the largest proportion;

it is followed by the category from 20,000 to 30,000 euros with eighty cases.

UKA chairwoman Margarete Reske confirmed that the payments were in the "upper range" of what state courts would award in such cases in terms of compensation for pain and suffering.

This is stipulated in the UKA's rules of procedure.

The Advisory Board of the German Bishops' Conference sharply criticized the report.

"With his fixation on numbers and dates, he does not do justice to the situation or the concerns of those affected by sexual abuse," it said in a statement on Thursday.

"The annual report of a listed company could not be more sober and distanced." The advisory board for those affected reiterated its criticism of the level of benefits.

He disputed the UKA chairmen's statement that they were in the upper range of compensation payments in such cases.

Those affected accused the UKA annual report of a lack of transparency.

In addition, the "critical reflection" on the set of rules on which the work of the UKA is based is missing.