Officials from the Catholic Church announced on Friday that a statue of the late German Cardinal Franz Hengsbach will be taken down from its location outside a cathedral in western Germany. This decision comes after allegations of sexual abuse against Hengsbach emerged. According to Thomas Zander, the dean of the cathedral in the city of Essen, a memorial for victims of sexual abuse will be created to replace the statue, which was erected in 2011.
The choice to remove the statue was made after several hours of closed-door discussions.
A statue, soon to be removed, of the late Cardinal Franz Hengsbach stands in Essen, Germany, on Sept. 22, 2023.
(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
The controversy surrounding the statue, located just outside Essen Cathedral, arose when the German Dioceses of Essen and Paderborn announced on Tuesday that they were launching investigations into three allegations of sexual abuse against Hengsbach.
Two of the allegations date back to the 1950s and 1960s. The first case claims that Hengsbach abused a 16-year-old girl in 1954 when he was serving as an auxiliary bishop in the German city of Paderborn. The second case involves an incident in 1967 where he allegedly assaulted another woman while he was already a bishop in Essen.
The most recent allegations were made by a third victim in October 2022.
Hengsbach founded the Diocese of Essen in 1958 and led it until his death at the age of 80 in 1991.
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