The Diocese of St. Gallen Should Implement a Cultural and Structural Transformation
Published: Monday, Sep 18th 2023, 14:40
Updated At: Friday, Oct 13th 2023, 14:12
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In an open letter, around 100 employees of the Catholic Church in the St. Gallen area have called for a "cultural and structural change". This follows the recent correction of statements made by St. Gallen Bishop Markus Büchel at a media conference last Wednesday. At the conference, Bishop Büchel had commented on two cases of sexual abuse in the Swiss Catholic Church which were mentioned in a study. The first case involved serious abuse in a children's home in Lütisburg SG which took place until 1988, and the second case involved a priest who has been repeatedly accused of sexual abuse since 2002. The Bishop had initially stated that he did not know the name of the person mentioned in the study, but the St. Gallen diocese later corrected this statement on the kath.ch media portal, confirming that they did know the name. The diocese also confirmed that the priest was no longer performing any pastoral duties, and that a legally binding suspension could only be issued after a legally binding judgement. In response to this, around 100 employees of the Church have called for a "cultural and structural change" in an open letter. They argue that fundamental mechanisms of the Church must be addressed, including issues of power, sexual morality and the role of women.nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
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