Archdiocese of Cologne | Abuse in the Church: Priest allegedly acted "privately"

Hans Bernhard U. is a serial offender of sexual violence. Three years ago, U. was sentenced to twelve years in prison by the Cologne Regional Court. The court found it proven that the Catholic priest sexually assaulted at least nine girls, including three nieces, who were between seven and 13 years old at the time, between 1993 and 2018. He was charged with a total of 110 offenses. During the trial, other alleged victims came forward, including those from more recent times. One woman reported assaults as recently as 2019.

There is at least one older victim. Melanie F., who was placed as a foster child with Hans Bernhard U. in the late 1970s. Her case was not heard in the criminal trial because it was time-barred. Instead, Melanie F. demanded compensation from the Archdiocese of Cologne.

Such lawsuits have become more frequent in recent years. They arose because those affected were dissatisfied with how the church handled their "voluntary recognition payments." They were complicated to apply for and often fell short of those affected's expectations. In 2023, a former altar boy who was the victim of a priest in the 1970s achieved a victory before the Cologne Regional Court. He was awarded damages of 300,000 euros. The ruling is considered a milestone because it was the first time a German court had recognized the church's institutional responsibility for such crimes and awarded substantial compensation. In other cases, however, courts had rejected claims for damages due to the statute of limitations or because payments had already been made. A few days ago, the Diocese of Mainz reached an agreement with a victim who had filed a lawsuit to pay 340,000 euros, thus avoiding a possible conviction.

In the case of Melanie F., the Archdiocese of Cologne considers itself not responsible. While it acknowledges and regrets the actions, it argues that Hans Bernhard U. acted as a private individual. The foster children are not a matter for the Church. This is an irritating argument, as the victims' initiative "Eckiger Tisch" also finds. Almost a year ago, when the compensation lawsuit began, the initiative wrote in a statement: "We consider the argument that the abuse took place in the priest's free time to be incorrect, because the understanding of office for a Catholic cleric is comprehensive." The "Eckiger Tisch" described the separation between the criminal and the priest as "absurd." The initiative also criticized the judges for not hearing from canon lawyers who had traveled there especially for the case.

Aside from the question of whether a distinction can be made between priest and private individual, the proceedings also concerned the church's position on the clergyman's unusual step of taking in foster children. For a long time during the proceedings, it was said that the church leadership had recommended that he hire a housekeeper. According to documents that the "Eckiger Tisch" and Melanie F.'s lawyers have now discovered, hiring a housekeeper was not just considered, but a condition for taking in the foster children. A housekeeper who could have discovered Hans Bernhard U.'s actions was never hired. Because the Archdiocese of Cologne did not add the document proving this to the court files, Melanie F.'s lawyers and Matthias Katsch from the "Eckiger Tisch" filed a complaint a few days ago on suspicion of attempted fraud in the proceedings against Cologne's Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki.

The complaint was not an issue on Tuesday when the Cologne Regional Court dismissed Melanie F.'s lawsuit. The court followed the archdiocese's argument and found that the priest had acted "more or less as a private individual." Whether the church had set conditions for taking in the foster children was also irrelevant. The admission of foster children was based on a state act, therefore, any connection to church activities was ruled out. Matthias Katsch of the affected people's initiative "Eckiger Tisch" expressed his "appallment" after the court's decision was announced. "This ruling is a blow to all those affected who have placed their hopes in the rule of law," Katsch told the German Press Agency. He was "quite angry about this argument and also about the callousness of the reasoning," Katsch said.