A recent independent report revealed that over the past decades, a shocking 1,259 individuals associated with the Protestant Church of Germany have been implicated in cases of sexual abuse, impacting no fewer than 2,225 victims.
Released on Thursday, the report, commissioned by the church in 2020 and funded with 3.6 million euros ($3.92 million), drew on examinations of documents from regional churches and the Lutherans’ diaconal relief and social welfare organization, Diakonie.
Although the authors were limited to scrutinizing disciplinary records rather than comprehensive personnel files, they estimated the actual number of offenders to be closer to 3,500.
Martin Wazlawik, who oversaw the study on sexualized violence, emphasized, “It’s the tip of the tip of the iceberg.”
The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), an umbrella organization comprising 20 regional churches with 19.2 million Protestant Christians, expressed remorse during the study’s presentation in Hannover.
EKD Council Head Kirsten Fehrs apologized wholeheartedly to the victims, acknowledging the institution’s culpability in countless crimes.
Fehrs expressed deep shock at the study’s grim portrayal of widespread violence within the church, vowing to accept the findings with humility.
This revelation follows the Catholic Church’s disclosure in 2018, where a commissioned report detailed that at least 3,677 individuals fell victim to sexual abuse by clergy between 1946 and 2014.
Over half of the victims were 13 years old or younger, with nearly a third serving as altar boys.
The Protestant Church’s report underscores the urgent need for addressing systemic issues promoting abuse within religious institutions in Germany.
