Germany: Mainz diocese report finds 401 victims, 181 accused, and a culture that prioritised avoiding scandal

Proceedings

1. 2023-03-06 · official-finding

   Independent report commissioned by the Diocese of Mainz, Germany. Regensburg lawyer Ulrich Weber and his team, after reviewing roughly 25,000 pages of diocesan archival material and conducting 246 interviews, published a report finding at least 401 victims and 181 accused persons — 65% of them clergy — dating from 1945. The report found the diocese itself facilitated the abuse through inappropriate handling and lack of oversight, describing a culture of minimisation in which avoiding public scandal was prioritised over victim protection and accused clergy received institutional solidarity while victims' suffering was systematically disregarded. Only 27 of the documented cases produced criminal proceedings, resulting in prison sentences in just eight.

Documented coercion mechanisms

• clerical and institutional office within diocesan parishes and Caritas facilities