Overview
- Covering 1941–2002, the study roughly doubles the previously cited 2018 bishops’ figures after researchers gained full access to diocesan archives and personnel files.
- Authors detail systemic cover-ups under Cardinals Lorenz Jaeger and Johannes Joachim Degenhardt, with offenders often kept in ministry or returned after therapy, representing about 4.35% of clergy over the period.
- Evidence was drawn from personnel records, the archdiocesan secret archive, court files and about 80 interviews, though the authors caution that a large share of cases likely went unreported.
- Media and victims’ representatives have alleged that Degenhardt personally abused boys and that a network ferried minors to clergy, claims the study and external reviewers say currently lack contemporaneous documentation; the archdiocese says it is examining new reports.
- A separate investigation of 2002–2022 is in progress for publication in 2027, and Archbishop Udo Markus Bentz urged additional victims to come forward while pledging support and further review.