Pastors: Federation should intervene with the Pope for abuse court
Published: Sunday, Nov 5th 2023, 05:40
Updated At: Monday, Nov 6th 2023, 00:53
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The Federal Council should intervene with the Pope in favor of an independent Swiss court to deal with cases of abuse in the Catholic Church. "In my opinion, only then will we have a chance of having an independent court," says Father Nicolas Betticher.
Betticher is considered a whistleblower because he initiated an investigation into alleged abuse against three bishops and an abbot with a letter to the papal nunciature in Bern. In an interview with the SonntagsZeitung, the former vicar general of the diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg and current pastor in Bern said that he would like to obtain a Swiss special right from the Pope in order to "finally deal credibly" with the abuse scandal that came to light in September.
"With a special law, for example, the bishops in Switzerland could be relieved of jurisdiction in matters of sexual abuse," said Betticher. "A competent court could act and conduct trials and proceedings." The Pope could grant this for 15 years on a trial basis, "as a laboratory for the universal church, so to speak".
French model unsuitable
Betticher does not believe in the idea of the Swiss Bishops' Conference to set up a church criminal and disciplinary court based on the French model - because it would not be able to judge abuse cases involving underage victims or bishops. "That would simply not be a credible response to the cases of abuse, because according to the study by the University of Zurich, the majority of victims were minors," says Betticher. "And bishops should also be held accountable in Switzerland if the need arises."
In September, the University of Zurich published a study documenting 1002 cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Switzerland since the middle of the 20th century. According to the researchers, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as most cases were not reported and documents were destroyed.
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