The head of Germany's Catholic Church has called for a debate on the celibacy requirement for priests, in response to the clergy sex abuse scandals. Cardinal Reinhard Marx said "weak excuses" were no longer acceptable.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Haid
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Cardinal Reinhard Marx has called for a "frank discussion" within the Roman Catholic Church on homosexuality, abuse of authority and the "celibacy and the training of priests" as part of the response to clergy sex abuse scandals.
"If no corrective action is taken by the church — and we are working on it, we must work on it — the state has no other choice but to intervene," Marx said on Friday, referring to ongoing investigations of church leaders in places like Chile, the United States and elsewhere.
Marx, one of Pope Francis' nine cardinal advisers, made his remarks at the launch of a master's course on safeguarding of minors at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where Jesuit recruits are educated.
That opening came as the Vatican convened more than 250 bishops to discuss how to better minister to young people.
Church report details abuse
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Worldwide scandals
A string of sex abuse scandals involving the Catholic Church has been exposed around the world in recent years, including in Germany.
Last month. a church-commissioned report detailed that at least 1,670 Catholic clerics had abused more than 3,600 children and teenagers, mostly male, in German dioceses between 1946 and 2014.
"Words of concern are not sufficient; we must act," Marx said, before adding that the causes were more complex than just priesthood without marriage. "Celibacy is not the cause of abuse; that is absolutely not the case."
However, Marx added that the church, when recruiting, should ask itself whether weaknesses such as hidden homosexuality, combined with celibacy, could lead to future problems.
8 films portraying Catholic Church sex abuse
"By the Grace of God," premiering in Berlin, depicts the Church's attempted cover-up of a sex abuse scandal. Such cases have long been explored by feature films. Here are a few memorable works.
Image: Jean-Claude Moireau
'By the Grace of God' (2019)
Francois Ozon's Berlinale entry focuses on the true story of a group of sex abuse victims who've formed an association to break the silence, years after they were molested by a priest in Lyon. The father's widespread abuse was known by his diocese's cardinal and even the Vatican. The actual Cardinal Barbarin, who attempted to cover up the case, is now on trial and could end up in prison.
Image: Jean-Claude Moireau
'Spotlight' (2016)
Based on a true story, this biographical drama directed by Tom McCarthy follows a team of reporters from "The Boston Globe" as they uncover systemic child sex abuse by Catholic priests in their city. "Spotlight" garnered six Oscar nominations and won for best picture and best screenplay. The actual investigation also earned a Pulitzer Prize in 2003.
Dark images, silhouetted actors shown out of focus: It's the cinematography of a horror film. Chilean director Pablo Larrain tackled an explosive topic in "The Club," in which four retired Catholic priests live in a secluded house and there "purge" horrible crimes, including child sex abuse. Larrain was inspired by true stories of high-level priests who live in hiding to avoid criminal charges.
Image: Fabula
'Verfehlung' (2015)
The German film "Verfehlung" (Misconduct) by Gerd Schneider depicts how the friendship of three priests is affected by a sex abuse scandal. One of them is accused of molesting teenage boys, and the two others react to their friend's situation in different ways. The way they deal with the truth could impact not only their relationship, but also their career in the ranks of the Church.
Image: Camino-Filmverleih
'Philomena' (2013)
With "Philomena," Stephen Frears deals with another aspect of the Church's institutional abuse: women who were forcibly separated from their children born out of wedlock. The film is based on the true story of Philomena Lee, whose son was taken away by the nuns at the convent where she was forced to work and sold to wealthy Americans. Actress Judi Dench portrayed the older Philomena.
Image: Imago/Zuma Press
'Bad Education' (2004)
While Pedro Almodovar's drama "Bad Education" is a stylized murder mystery playing on different levels of metafiction, it also tells the story of a young boy being molested by a Catholic priest in his boarding school. Ignacio, the abused child, is later a transgender woman who confronts the abusive father and blackmails him.
Image: Imago/United Archives
'The Magdalene Sisters' (2002)
The Magdalene Asylums, also known as Magdalene laundries, were Catholic Church institutions that served as a reformatory for women labelled as "fallen." Peter Mullan's 2002 drama portrays one such home, telling the story of four young women who were sent there by their families, or caretakers, and who faced extreme cruelty and abuse by nuns. The last such institution closed in 1996.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives/Impress
'Primal Fear' (1996)
A 19-year-old altar boy (Edward Norton, in his Oscar-nominated film debut) is accused of brutally murdering an influential Catholic Archbishop. An ambitious defense lawyer (Richard Gere) takes on his case. In the course of the trial, it is revealed that the beloved archbishop had abusive tendencies and had forced altar boys into sex.
Image: Imago/United Archives
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Only one-third celibate: former monk
Anselm Bilgri, who until 2004 was a Benedictine monk in Germany, said in an interview with German newspaper Die Zeit that "there are estimates that one-third of priests are heterosexually active, one-third homosexually, and one-third who sincerely attempt to comply [by observing celibacy]."
Bilgri, the author of a book published last month in which he calls for the end of celibacy in the priesthood, said belief in the practice was no longer shared by many people, resulting in many priests living out their sexual urges in secret.
A 2015 study by Munich-based theologian and psychiatrist Eckhard Frick found that among 4,200 priests and 8,600 pastoral workers, only one in two would decide for a celibate life if they could choose again.
