Catholic diocese to remove Late Cardinal Franz Hengsbach’s statue as abuse allegations pour in

 

ESSEN – Following abuse allegations against a deceased cardinal in western Germany, the Catholic diocese of Essen said that it intended to remove his statue from the city’s cathedral “as soon as possible.”

 

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The diocese said the cathedral chapter, which owns and runs the church, reached the decision to remove the statue of the late cardinal Franz Hengsbach on Friday afternoon.

Essen Cathedral Provost Thomas Zander said a memorial site for victims of sexual abuse would be created in place of the sculpture. 

The Catholic bishop of Essen, Franz-Josef Overbeck, has asked for forgiveness from parishioners over his handling of abuse allegations against his predecessor.

In a letter to parishes in his diocese in western Germany, Overbeck said that he was first informed of abuse allegations against Hengsbach in 2011 by the diocese of Paderborn, about 130 kilometres east of Essen.

But Overbeck said he took no further action after the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome – the body responsible for safeguarding Catholic doctrine – told him that the allegations were not plausible.

“I now admit that the accusations were wrongly assessed in 2011 and those who were affected suffered an injustice,” Overbeck wrote.

The Catholic dioceses in Essen and Paderborn disclosed on Tuesday that “serious” abuse allegations existed against Hengsbach, who died in 1991.

Among other accusations, Hengsbach allegedly abused a then 16-year-old girl in 1954 when he was auxiliary bishop in Paderborn. He is also accused of another assault on a woman in Essen in 1967. 

In his letter to his diocese, Overbeck said he had not questioned Rome’s assessment of the abuse allegations at that time, which he now says was a mistake. Back then Overback wrote, he had not been able to believe that an esteemed cardinal could have inflicted terrible suffering on people.

 

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Overback said he did not inform a research team looking into abuse in the diocese about the accusation against Hengsbach. The researchers’ study was published earlier this year.

Overback said he also did not inform a local Church official who was in charge of dealing with abuse allegations in 2011 about the accusation. That led the official to tell an inquiry that the diocese was unaware of abuse allegations against Hengsbach.

Overback said the diocese must place greater focus on the perspective of victims of sexual abuse in the future. 

He said he would have the entire process investigated independently and is seeking to contact the Munich-based research institute that compiled the study on abuse in the diocese.

“I now apologize to you all for my mistakes,” Overback wrote.

Hengsbach, who was appointed cardinal in 1988, was one of Germany’s best-known clergymen. He was co-founder of the Catholic relief organization Adveniat and served as bishop to the German military for more than 17 years.