What the victims went through Vreni Peterer, who is now 62, was sexually abused by a village priest in the canton of St. Gallen in the early 1970s when she was ten. To encourage others to come forward, she recently spoke out about her experiences after having kept quiet for decades. The priest had repeatedly touched girls inappropriately during religion classes. One day, he insisted on driving Peterer home. But instead of taking her home, he took Peterer to the edge of the forest and raped her. She was then told off by her mother for being late back from school. Looking back, Peterer says there is no way she would have said something at the time. Her abuser threatened that she would go to hell. In any case, the priest was beyond reproach as an authority figure. Peterer experienced recurring physical and psychological problems in adulthood, for which she required therapy. It wasn’t until 2018 that she was able to bring herself to contact the specialist committee established by the Diocese of St. Gallen in 2002 and report the priest. He had since died. Peterer learned from the records that this priest had history in another parish. He had even received a suspended custodial sentence from a secular court for sexual misconduct with and in the presence of children. Despite that, he was still appointed as priest to Vreni Peterer’s parish. In other words, her suffering could have been avoided. Peterer now presides over an association for people who suffered abuse within the church. She did not leave the church. Peterer says she is not against the church, instead she opposes a church where there is abuse. (SWE) 5 happened late by international standards, and its findings have shaken the church. Preliminary investigation of bishops Church expert Daniel Kosch argues in the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” that the real scandal is how an institution with the role of a moral authority can be so dismissive of those who have suffered abuse while in its care. He called it the worst crisis in the Catholic Church in Switzerland since the Reformation. In response, the church has taken a harder line with sexual abuse since the turn of the millennium. In 2002, the Bishops’ Conference issued guidelines. In addition, all six dioceses must now have a prevention strategy and a specialist committee for the abused. Victims of attacks falling under the statute of limitations are receiving payments from a compensation fund set up in 2016. In its response to the study, the Bishops’ Conference recognised “the suffering of those who were abused and the culpability of the church”. The President of the Bishops’ Conference, Basel Bishop Felix Gmür, announced additional measures including contact points separate from the church. The Bishop of St. Gallen, Markus Büchel, apologised – he was tainted through a serious case of abuse in his diocese, described in the study, that continued until fairly recently. However, the public were not convinced. Instead, the high-ranking clerics found themselves under investigation, as reported by the media. The Pope ordered a canonical investigation in the summer into four acting members of the nine-person Bishops’ Conference, among others. Bishop Joseph Bonnemain appointed head of investigation The abbot of Saint Maurice monastery in Valais – a member of the Bishops’ Conference as head of a territorial abbey – is himself accused of having sexually molested a youth. He initially took leave of absence from his position. Three bishops are alleged not to have acted as they were supposed to in response to cases of abuse. While they admitted some errors, they also rejected other allegations. Rome appointed Joseph Bonnemain, bishop of Chur since 2021, to lead the preliminary investigation. He takes a firm line against abuse in his own diocese. Nonetheless, critics question whether he will really move The venerable Saint Maurice monastery (VS): several children and adolescents are said to have been sexually assaulted here. Photo: Keystone Swiss Review / January 2024 / No.1
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