Is the Catholic Church really going to investigate cases of sexual abuse?

KEYSTONE/Monika Flueckiger

Since last week the Swiss Catholic Church has been pilloried. On September 12 the first results of a study into sexual abuse in the Church conducted by historians at the University of Zurich shook the institutions of Swiss Catholicism.

In response, the Swiss Bishops’ Conference, the highest authority of the Roman Catholic Church in the country, has announced its intention to clean up its act. Researchers at the University of Zurich’s department of history regret that the clergy hesitated for so long before allowing historians to work independently in their archives. And in line with this, suspicions and even actual cases of sexual abuse cover-ups and obstruction of investigations have been reported at the highest level of the Swiss Catholic Church. Some bishops are involved.

With this in mind, the “dialogue” service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), SWI swissinfo.ch’s parent company, offers you a thematic selection on this subject, with content from all over Switzerland translated into the four national languages and English.

>>> Click here to go to “dialogueExternal link“.

As part of its “dialogue” offer, the SBC lets you share your ideas on its online discussion forum which is moderated – your comments are not automatically published in order to avoid harassment, insults and trolls – and translated into the four national languages and English. This week, we are asking whether the Catholic Church can really resolve its internal problems on its own, or whether the secular authorities – the judiciary, politicians and citizens’ associations – should take matters into their own hands.

>>> Click here to join the debateExternal link