Retired priest\u00a0Ulrich Zurkuhlen caused consternation in the city of M\u00fcnster, northwest Germany, when he dedicated his sermon to the concept of forgiving priests who had sexually abused minors.<\/p>\n
Zurkuhlen\u2019s remarks come at a difficult time for the Roman Catholic Church, as it grapples with continued allegations, from various parts of the world, of priests\u2019 predatory conduct and church attempts to cover it up.<\/p>\n
In 2018, the German Bishops\u2019 Conference published a report revealing that 1,670 priests, roughly 4.4%\u00a0of clerics, had abused 3,677 people between 1946 and 2014 in Germany.<\/p>\n
The controversial sermon took place in the Holy Spirit Church of M\u00fcnster. The internet portal Kirche-und-Leben.de (Church and Life) reported that parishioners were incensed, with some 70 members of the congregation walking out in protest.<\/p>\n
Several parishioners reportedly interrupted the 79-year-old Zurkuhlen and tried to argue with him. A worshipper told Kirche-und-Leben that the situation became chaotic and the priest was not able to finish the sermon.<\/p>\n
Victims of abuse were said to have been present as the priest spoke.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Kirche-und-Leben.de, Zurkuhlen griped about the fact that even bishops refer to predator priests as \u201ccriminals,\u201d despite the fact that these men were also good clerics in their communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody is just profoundly evil,\u201d the priest said. \u201cGoodness and guilt are often combined with each other or stand side by side without touching,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Zurkuhlen insisted that it was \u201ctime for the church hierarchy to say a word of forgiveness after a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked about the reaction his sermon caused among worshippers, Zurkuhlen said that it was \u201ca real shock.\u201d He lamented that he was unable to get his point across, especially the biblically important meaning of forgiveness, to what he called \u201cthe screaming mob.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Read more.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Incredible:\u00a0 Retired priest\u00a0Ulrich Zurkuhlen caused consternation in the city of M\u00fcnster, northwest Germany, when he dedicated his sermon to the concept of forgiving priests who had sexually abused minors. Zurkuhlen\u2019s remarks come at a difficult time for the Roman Catholic Church, as it grapples with continued allegations, from various parts of the world, of priests\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":45417,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,45],"tags":[213],"class_list":["post-299928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-priests","category-ripped-from-the-headlines","tag-catholic-sex-abuse-crisis"],"yoast_head":"\n
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