LIMBURG (GERMANY)
Crux [Denver CO]
November 3, 2026
By Fionn Shiner
A German bishop has published a statement challenging Pope Leo XIV’s comments on his return from France in September when he said that sexual abuse within the Church is “first and foremost a human problem.”
Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg published the statement on his diocesan website on Tuesday setting out why he disagreed with the pope’s comments.
“The recognition of systemic causes is not unique to the Church’s debate in Germany,” Bätzing said. “It is a consequence of scientific findings and of the experiences of people who have suffered greatly within our Church.”
“Should the Church downplay or deny the systemic causes of sexualized violence, that would be a serious setback,” Bätzing added. “It would further hurt victims and jeopardize the credibility of the investigation.”
Bätzing acknowledged that Leo emphasized the Church’s responsibility but felt he didn’t go far enough when discussing the systemic aspect of the abuse.
“Precisely for this reason,” the bishop said, “I would like to see him make an equally clear recognition of the systemic causes of sexualized violence.”
Leo was speaking on the flight home from France following a meeting he had with French survivors of clerical sexual abuse.
RELATED: ‘This brought me reconciliation’: Abuse survivors praise Sunday’s meeting with Pope Leo
Cyriac Zeller of France’s I-Media asked Leo whether he considered sexual abuse in the Church to be systemic.
“Yesterday,” Zeller said, “the victims you met told us that you had acknowledged to them the systemic nature of sexual abuse in the Church.”
“Is that indeed the case?” Zeller asked. “Could you explain your position on this? Do you consider sexual abuse in the Church to be systemic?”
In response, Leo said several victims spoke of systemic abuse.
“Without wanting to contradict anyone, as I think it is very important,” Leo began, before saying he preferred “to express it in a different way, although I did speak about some organizations within the Church who have, at times, if you will, as a system, been abusive.”
“Sexual abuse is first and foremost a human problem,” Leo said. “When it happens within the Church, it actually has another whole dimension added to it, because people’s lives of faith are deeply wounded and sometimes even destroyed.”
“I spoke with them [the victims] about how the Church, in certain ways, has been seen as being responsible,” Leo said, “but in the same way that the Church, I think, is an important part of helping them to find healing.”
RELATED: Is the honeymoon over for Leo XIV?
Bätzing said he felt this description of abuse to be “inadequate and, in its potential consequences, highly problematic.”
“Does he acknowledge that not only individuals and organizations, but also specific structures within the Catholic Church have facilitated abuse and its cover-up?” Bätzing wrote.
Bätzing emphasized that, for the sake of victims, the Church must “not gloss over anything, relativize anything, or ignore any uncomfortable truths.”
The German prelate said that effective proclamation of the gospel required the Church to engage in drastic self-appraisal.
“It must not place its institutional interests above human dignity. And it must accept that spiritual authority never absolves one from accountability and oversight,” Bätzing said.
Those within the Church fighting against abuse “must also change the structures that facilitate abuse. Our Church must be measured by this — in Germany, in Rome, and everywhere in the world.”
2018 abuse study
Bätzing drew heavily on a study commissioned by the German bishops’ conference published in 2018, which argued that abuse in the Church can’t only be understood as an individual’s misconduct, but also reflected structural factors within the Church that increased the risk of abuse.
“These include clericalism and asymmetrical power relations, the sacral elevation of priestly authority, problematic forms of personality development and psychosexual maturation, as well as a taboo surrounding sexuality and sexual orientation,” the bishop said.
“We must also change the structures in which power is exercised, responsibility is assumed, and decisions are made,” he added.
“Church leadership needs binding accountability, transparent decision-making processes, and effective, ideally independent, control mechanisms,” Bätzing said.
Fionn Shiner is a British writer and journalist living in Barcelona. Alongside Crux Now, where he is the European Correspondent, his writing has appeared in The Spectator, The Independent, The Pillar, and more.