- Title: Ex-Pope Benedict's brother knew of abuse at Regensburg cathedral choir - report
- Date: 18th July 2017
- Summary: REGENSBURG, GERMANY (JULY 18, 2017) (REUTERS) WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE WITH LAWYER ULRICH WEBER WHO COMPILED A 400-PAGE REPORT ON ABUSE CASES COMMITTED AT THE REGENSBURG CATHEDRAL CHOIR ("REGENSBURGER DOMSPATZEN," OR CATHEDRAL SPARROWS) BETWEEN 1949 AND 1992 SIGN READING IN GERMAN "LOOK, LISTEN, ANSWER" WEBER LOOKING ON WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) LAWYER, ULRICH WEBER, SAYING: "Pre-school victims of the Regensburg cathedral sparrows in (the towns of) Etterzhausen and Pielenhofen described the institution as a prison, hell and a concentration camp. Many of them called the time there as the worst of their lives, marked by violence, fear and helplessness." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) LAWYER, ULRICH WEBER, SAYING: "In many cases, those responsible for the violence in pre-school were the director himself and his prefect who over decades were the shaping figures of the institution. However, many employees from the three sectors school, choir, music education and boarding school were actively involved in the violence." REPORTER GOING THROUGH NEWS RELEASE AND UNDERLINING PART OF PARAGRAPH (SOUNDBITE) (German) LAWYER, ULRICH WEBER, SAYING: "In general, it must be assumed that almost all people in charge at the Domspatzen at least had partial knowledge about acts of violence but that they showed little interest in the subject." REPORTER'S NOTEPAD (SOUNDBITE) (German) LAWYER, ULRICH WEBER, SAYING: "Director of music R. is to be blamed especially for turning a blind eye and not interfering despite having knowledge." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) LAWYER, ULRICH WEBER, SAYING: "The investigation did not reveal that director of music R. had positive knowledge of sexual abuse. You will find an extensive description of this person. Why? Because he was described very differently, both positively and negatively." AUDIENCE SEATED IN FRONT OF CAMERA CREWS (SOUNDBITE) (German) LAWYER, ULRICH WEBER, SAYING: "Physical violence was commonplace, often brutal and it was used against a large part of the students. The main focus for pre-school was the 1960s and 70s although there are consistent reports about serious physical violence up until 1992." PAN DOWN ALEXANDER PROBST, FORMER MEMBER OF REGENSBURG DOMSPATZEN AND VICTIM OF ABUSE (SOUNDBITE) (German) FORMER MEMBER OF REGENSBURG DOMSPATZEN AND VICTIM OF ABUSE, ALEXANDER PROBST, SAYING: "These are not 547 cases where an individual was affected once. Rather, this was an ongoing practice over decades where 547 children were tormented, abused, mistreated and socially harmed. They are severely traumatised to this very day. This upsets me. I thought I had gotten over it after a seven-year battle but in fact this greatly upset me today."
- Embargoed: 1st August 2017 11:37
- Keywords: catholic church abuse Regensburg Domspatzen violence
- Location: REGENSBURG, GERMANY
- City: REGENSBURG, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime
- Reuters ID: LVA0016Q8SDON
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Teachers at one of Germany's most famous Roman Catholic choir schools physically or sexually abused 547 pupils between 1945 and 2015, an independent report found on Tuesday (July 18), with some boys likening the institution to a concentration camp.
The 440-page report chronicles teachers doling out physical violence including slapping boys in the face so hard that the marks could be seen the next day, whipping them with wooden sticks and violin bows and subjecting them to severe beatings.
Boys who tried to escape the "Regensburger Domspatzen", or Regensburg Cathedral Sparrows, were hauled back into the school and beaten and humiliated in front of other boys, it said.
Allegations of abuse at the school, which dates back over a thousand years and now tours the world to perform choral music, surfaced in 2010.
After criticism of that investigation, the diocese, which acknowledged on Tuesday it had "made mistakes", commissioned lawyer Ulrich Weber in 2015 to put together the independent report.
Former Pope Benedict's brother, Georg Ratzinger, 93, led the choir from 1964 to 1994. He acknowledged in 2010 that he had slapped pupils in the face but said he had not realized how brutal the discipline was.
Weber said he was "to be blamed especially for turning a blind eye and not intervening despite having knowledge", adding the investigation did not show he was aware of sexual abuse. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None