- In an open letter, the Catholic youth association Jungwacht Blauring (Jubla) calls for “complete clarification” and an external investigation into cases of abuse in the Catholic Church.
- In addition, those responsible must be held accountable.
- The youth association also calls for, among other things, women’s consecration and marriage for queer people.
Jubla managing director Andrea Pfäffli is quoted as saying in a statement that the structures in the Catholic Church encouraged abuse and its cover-up. Changes and a modernization of the church are therefore urgently needed.
According to Jubla, the reason for the letter is, on the one hand, the recently published abuse study, which reveals over 1,000 cases of sexual abuse in a church context. On the other hand, the World Synod, which has just ended in Rome, did not bring any concrete and satisfactory results.
The protection of young people has the highest priority in Jubla. Tens of thousands of legal guardians entrusted her with their children and relied on professional care. “As a Catholic children’s and youth association, the study and its current effects also affect Jubla Switzerland,” says the open letter to the Swiss Bishops’ Conference. The members of Jubla were addressed critically by external people and were “sometimes even hostile”. “Our members are associated by the public with that part of the Catholic Church system that the majority of them have been criticizing for years.”
But while Jubla is constantly developing its protective measures, far too little is being done in the Catholic Church.
Swiss bishops should campaign for the ordination of women
In the open letter, Jubla formulates numerous demands to the church leadership. All cases of abuse from the last 40 years should be examined externally and the perpetrators should be banned from working. Internal processing is inadequate.
Legend:
With 33,000 members, Jungwacht Blauring claims to be the largest Catholic children’s and youth association in Switzerland.
Archive/KEYSTONE/Alexandra Wey
In addition, the Swiss bishops in Rome should campaign for the ordination of women. And the Catholic Church should accept all forms of relationships and enable marriage – including for queer people. However, the chosen form of relationship between church staff must remain a private matter.
More democracy instead of “male monarchy”
Jubla also criticizes the “church culture of fear”. Because employees are afraid of sanctions if their private lifestyle does not correspond to the church’s ideal. Furthermore, more democratic structures are needed in the Catholic Church instead of a “male monarchy”. And youth associations need to be more involved in prevention work.