World Religion News blog
July 8, 2019
By Alison Lesley
MEMBERS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT CHURCH WALKED OUT THE SERMON IN PROTEST Retired priest, Ulrich Zurkuhlen, has caused quite a stir in the city of Münster, northwest Germany, after urging everyone to practice forgiveness for priests who had sexually abused minors.
This message by Zurkuhlen comes at a difficult time for the Roman Catholic Church which is currently dealing with a barrage of allegations from different parts of the world of priest’s predatory conduct as well as church attempts at cover-ups.
The German Bishops’ Conference published a report in 2018 which said that 1,670 priests, which is almost 4.4 percent of clerics were guilty of abusing 3,677 people between 1946 and 2014 in Germany.
Kirche-und-Leben.de, an internet portal, reported that 70 members walked out of the congregation in protest.
Several parishioners tried to argue with the 79-year-old Zurkuhlen. The priest wasn’t able to finish the sermon as the situation became chaotic. There were several victims of abuse present at the sermon.
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