German bishop rejects resignation in wake of abuse report

The bishop of the western German city of Münster, Felix Genn, said on Friday he would not resign after being criticized in a report on sexual abuse in his diocese.

In the study by the local university, which was released on Monday, the bishop is accused of being too lax in dealing with priests who had shown remorse after having committed abuse.

Genn admitted mistakes on Friday but said he had not covered up anything.

"I would therefore like to use my remaining time in office as bishop of Münster with the utmost commitment to continue and intensify listening to what those affected and what independent bodies recommend for dealing with sexual abuse in the diocese of Münster and try to implement that," he said in his first official response to the report.

Münster is one of the largest dioceses in Germany. Genn said his diocese would act on the study, which identified almost 200 Catholic clergy as offenders.

The bishop spoke of mistakes in dealing with perpetrators. Sexual abuse is "always also an abuse of power," he said.

He said he would examine whether an ecclesiastical process could be set up to avoid such cases in the future. He would also try to make personnel decisions more transparent.

The research by a five-member team at the University of Münster, which took more than two years, showed that there were nearly 200 clergy members involved and 610 underage victims of sexual abuse from 1945 to 2020. This represents 4.17% of priests in the diocese.

Many priests accused of abuse were reassigned, only to abuse again.