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Study reveals hundreds of sexual abuse victims in Swiss Catholic Church

A study into sexual abuse in the Swiss Catholic Church has identified almost a thousand victims and widespread efforts to cover up abuse, researchers at the University of Zurich said Tuesday, warning it was "just the tip of the iceberg".

Published: 12 September 2023 15:45 CEST
Study reveals hundreds of sexual abuse victims in Swiss Catholic Church
The monastery of Montcroix in Delemont, north-western Switzerland. Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI/AFP.

The year-long inquiry by historians, commissioned by Church authorities, identified 921 victims since 1950 and found that most cases either went unreported or documents containing information were destroyed.

Researchers found that “Church leaders ignored, concealed or minimised most cases of sexual abuse analysed until the 2000s”.

“When they were forced to act, they often did so not by focusing on the people concerned, but to protect the perpetrators, the institution or their position”, the report said.

The study, which will be completed by a further three-year research campaign, comes after similar efforts to uncover clerical abuse in other parts of the world.

“It is without doubt just the tip of the iceberg”, said Professor Marietta Meier, who led the study along with colleague Monika Dommann.

According to the initial findings, 74 percent of victims were children, while a total of 510 people, almost all men, were found to have committed the abuse.

More than half of the victims were male and almost 40 percent were female, the study found.

The subject “has preoccupied us for a long time now and we are distressed and ashamed by it,” Renata Asal-Steger, president of Switzerland’s Roman Catholic Central Conference, told a press conference.

“We have missed the point, we gave countless excuses and our actions fell short of what the victims are entitled to,” she added.

Asal-Steger emphasised that “it is an important day for the Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland”.

“Even though atrocious acts and countless failings within the ranks of the three national organisations of the Catholic Church will be brought to light today, we are grateful.”

Swiss bishops said Sunday that they had opened a preliminary inquiry into accusations of a cover-up of sexual assaults within the Church.

It was set up following “allegations made against several emeritus and serving members of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference as well as other clergy members in the handling of cases of sexual abuse”, the group said in a statement.

Member comments

  1. It is absurd that the church is investigating itself.

    Any other organisation accused of mass rape and pedophilia would have their doors broken down by the police and a merciless investigation would ensue. How is this not considered a criminal case to be handled by the courts?

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CRIME

‘Your permit is invalid’: Foreigners in Switzerland warned to avoid new scam

Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.

Published: 26 April 2024 11:17 CEST
Updated: 2 May 2024 15:04 CEST
'Your permit is invalid': Foreigners in Switzerland warned to avoid new scam

A number of foreign nationals, especially in the German-speaking part of the country, have received an official-looking letter, purportedly from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) informing them that the Free Movement of People agreement between Switzerland and the EU has been nullified, and therefore “your residence permit is no longer valid.”

Faced with enquiries from concerned recipients, SEM responded that the letter is fake, advising recipients to ignore it and, above all, not to click on the QR code on the top.

“Fake letters from the SEM have been circulating since the beginning of this week,” the immigration authority said on its website as well as on X (formerly Twitter).  

“The letter has no impact on the recipient’s  residence status,” SEM added.

Fake jobs, real threats

However, this is only the latest scam perpetrated in the name of SEM.

There have been others in the past.

For instance, many foreigners have also received emails from addresses swissimmigration@consultant or eu_immigration@consultant, that pretend to be the Swiss immigration authority.

“In most cases, a fictitious job in the hotel industry is offered, with the senders demanding payment of 300 to 1,000 euros for a permit in Switzerland and for health and accident insurance,” SEM reported.

The first clue that this email doesn’t come from  SEM, which is part of Switzerland’s government, is that it is asking for payment in euros. If the scammers were smarter, they’d demand Swiss francs.

“These e-mails do not come from the SEM and should be considered as an attempt at fraud,” the agency said. 

Extortion attempt

And a few years ago, a number of foreigners received emails coming allegedly from SEM, Swiss border control authorities, or even the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol).

They threatened to revoke the victim’s residence permit or even expel them from the country altogether if they didn’t pay a certain sum of money into an anonymous account.

Needless to say, no government authority would ever resort to blackmail or demand payment for such ‘services’.

So a good rule to remember (for foreigners and Swiss alike) is that if threats and pressure are involved, letters / emails / phone calls ( WhatsUp messages are more than likely scams.
 
READ ALSO: The common scams foreigners in Switzerland need to be aware of 

Don’t respond

SEM as well as police urge everyone contacted by scammers, by whatever means to:

  • Ignore these messages by hanging up the phone and / or deleting emails, moving them to the Spam folder
  • Never give out your credit card number or bank account information to people you don’t know
  • If you did give your card number, contact your credit card company immediately to have the card blocked. Likewise, if you gave out your banking details, get in touch with your bank.
  • In the event of threats of extortion attempts, consider filing a criminal complaint. You can search for police stations in your area on the Police website. 
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