Munich Affected Advisory Board: “A sign of poverty of a human nature”
Desire to approach the abused proactively
The Munich abuse report is on the table. Nevertheless, it is an extremely large number of unreported cases, Richard Kick from the Advisory Board concerned points out. In the interview he talks about his impressions and his disappointment with Cardinal Reinhard Marx.
By Barbara Just (KNA) | Munich – 01/23/2022
“The perspective of those affected is now the focus for us in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising,” said Cardinal Reinhard Marx in his first reaction to the new abuse report. Richard Kick (65) from the Archdiocese Advisory Board on Friday spoke in an interview about how he experienced Thursday and what he now expects.
Question: Mr. Kick, how are you feeling after two hours of a “horrific report”?
Kick: On the one hand, I was glad that things had now come to the table in a very decided manner. There is still an extremely large number of unreported cases, and thus many affected people who have never dared to say what happened to them. The report also made clear the enormous irresponsibility of these three cardinals in a row, one of whom also became pope. Keeping things under the rug for so long can make you really sick.
Question: Have you come across yet?
Kick: The attitude of the chief ecclesiastical judge. The hat, in his perfidious way, even sued victims for defamation, even though he reversed that a few years later. I too was discredited by him just to protect the perpetrator.
Question: Would you like more people affected to have the courage to shed light on this dark area?
Kick: Basically yes, but I’m a bit hesitant. Everyone has to feel for themselves whether they can endure it. Getting in touch doesn’t just mean saying: My name is so and so and there was something. I need to remember what most have tried to forget and repress for decades. I have to bring that into consciousness and tell others about it. So far there have been two independent contact persons in the archdiocese, but the support is in need of improvement.
Question: What should the optimal contact point look like?
Kick: As the Advisory Board for Affected Persons, we have urged Vicar General Christoph Klingan to set up an office with a corresponding telephone number before the report is published, so that those affected can contact them. When someone calls, they must be answered by someone with a psychological background who knows how to conduct such conversations. Something has changed there, even if the whole thing is still in its infancy. So far, nobody has been there to help when it comes to compensation payments or therapy.
Question: When will the Advisory Board meet again?
Kick: We got together again the evening after the report was presented. Also present were the vicar general and the head of the office, Stephanie Herrmann. Klingan had already received offers from Ms. Herrmann at the beginning of the week. We accepted. When we broke up after three hours, the head of the office thanked them for being allowed to be with us. For us, the two are the mainstay of the future work-up. They take us seriously. It is to their credit that they are still young in life and years of service. They don’t have to come to terms with the past themselves. This is our chance here in the archdiocese.
Question: What further steps do you hope to take as a consequence of the report?
Kick: My wish would be a really proactive approach to those affected. I belonged to the first group who were personally invited to Cardinal Reinhard Marx’s palace in 2010 to speak with him. When he was on our advisory board a few weeks ago, I asked him why he hadn’t contacted me since then. He leaned back and said that was a good question that he had already asked himself. But nobody told him that he should contact those affected again.
Question: Your reaction?
Kick: It’s a sign of human inadequacy when, as a cardinal, he says twelve years later that I should have been told that. That’s why I believe that we have to exert great pressure so that those affected are approached proactively. Of the many who have come forward, none of the church has moved. At the request of the Advisory Board, the Vicar General has now ensured that from the middle of the year we will have a pastor who is himself a victim of sexual abuse.
Question: How should the help look like?
Kick: The main thing is to talk to each other. We can now also be reached by email at [email protected]. Three inquiries have already been received from those affected who had not previously reported. The Archdiocese, and Cardinal Marx in the lead, must now clearly communicate that the door is open for anyone who needs help to reach out. Of course it will also be about money, the current recognition is a farce. So there are those affected who have received 2,000 euros for going from one therapy to the next for 40 years, have burnout and no longer know how to go on living.