Bishopric of Basel to Process Abuse Case and Acknowledge Mistakes
Published: Friday, Aug 18th 2023, 10:40
تم التحديث في: الجمعة، 13 أكتوبر 2023، الساعة 14:12:14
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The Catholic Diocese of Basel has acknowledged mistakes in its handling of a case of alleged sexual abuse. Bishop Felix Gmür has acknowledged procedural errors and expressed regret for the failure, which must not be repeated. The case is currently being reviewed in Rome. According to a report in the latest issue of the magazine "Beobachter", a Nigerian auxiliary priest employed by the Diocese of Basel is alleged to have sexually abused a minor between 1995 and 1998. In 2019, the victim reported the abuse to the Catholic Church. The Compensation Commission of the Bishops' Conference recognized the woman as a victim and paid her a compensation of 15,000 Swiss francs. However, according to the "Beobachter", the alleged perpetrator was not held accountable for the abuse. In response to the media report, the Diocese of Basel acknowledged "errors committed" and promised to rectify them immediately and prevent them from happening in the future. The procedural errors had caused additional harm to the affected person. Bishop Gmür deeply regrets this, as well as the fact that the person's right to a dignified treatment and a church-law compliant procedure was not respected in the past. The case is currently being reviewed in Rome to ensure that the victim receives justice. The Diocese of Basel has reported the case to the public prosecutor's office, but due to the statute of limitations, it was not pursued. A church pre-investigation was also initiated to determine whether there were sufficient indications to open a church-law criminal procedure. The pre-investigation officer erroneously assumed that the submitted documents had to be signed by the affected person for them to be valid in the procedure. As a result, the pre-investigation was closed without reporting the case to Rome. Bishop Gmür then reviewed the matter again and corrected the error. All the documents were sent to Rome on July 4. The Diocese of Basel covers ten cantons: AG, BE, BL, BS, JU, LU, TG, SH, SO and ZG. With more than one million believers, it is the largest diocese in Switzerland.nnnnnnnnnn
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