The publication of the report on dealing with cases of sexualized violence in the Archdiocese of Freiburg, which has long been planned for the end of October, will be postponed until next spring.

As stated in a statement from the Archdiocese on Monday, the report by the "AG Aktenanalyse" set up four years ago requires "additional legal protection".

Daniel Deckers

responsible for “The Present” in the political editorial team.

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The persons named in the report must be given the opportunity to finally comment on the facts affecting them, it was said in explanation.

Only through this "legally necessary intermediate step" can it be guaranteed that the publication is "legally secure and incontestable".

In the summer, the diocesan leadership led by Archbishop Stefan Burger and Vicar General Christoph Neubrand was convinced that the abuse report could be presented to those affected and the public on October 25 of this year.

This should now be opposed to concerns in the fields of data protection, personality and press law.

Zollitsch was confronted with allegations of a cover-up

The Archdiocese did not say who raised these objections.

In Freiburg, however, it is an open secret that Burger's predecessor, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, who retired in 2013, is threatening to take legal action against the publication of the report.

Zollitsch was archbishop for ten years and was confronted with massive allegations of cover-up during his tenure.

These also included his previous position as HR Manager.

In addition to the office in Freiburg, Zollitsch chaired the German Bishops' Conference from 2008 to 2014.

During this time, among other things, the revelations about sexual violence at the Berlin Canisius College fell.

The bishops reacted to the spread of this scandal, which affected all dioceses, by appointing the Trier bishop Stephan Ackermann as their own abuse officer.

Unlike the Austrian bishops, the Germans refused to entrust an independent body with investigating allegations and compensating those affected.

In 2010, Zollitsch would have been one of the first to ask urgent questions.

However, he should remain at the head of the bishops' conference in order to avoid any debate about the successor.

In 2008, Archbishop Reinhard Marx of Munich was his opponent.

In 2014 he became Zollitsch's successor.