Editorial about the silence surrounding the abuse scandal: Missed opportunity for the middle

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God is far from dead: over a third of the Swiss population is Catholic. Certainly, a significant number of these people have turned away from the church in their daily lives; for some, denomination has become an empty confession on their tax returns. Criticism of the clergy is considered modern. The spirit of the times is free of religion.

However, this should not obscure the fact that for many Swiss people the Catholic faith – from baptism to first communion and from marriage to death – still provides a meaningful foundation in their lives. In a phase of increasing lack of freedom worldwide, apocalyptic environmental news and radical Islam, the church as an institution provides support to many contemporaries. The sermons offer comfort in the scent of incense.

For all these people, the extent of the abuse in the church that has now become public is a shock; The alleged perpetrators not only hurt their victims with their actions, but also damaged the spiritual home of many Christians.

These wounds will heal only slowly; the broken trust will not return overnight. It remains to be seen whether the investigation by the judiciary and church authorities will be sufficient.

But there would be a secular force, a smartly led political party, that could play a constructive role and be involved in mediation: as a Christian Democratic People’s Party, the center carries within it the legacy of Catholic Switzerland. The former CVP once brought the areas loyal to Rome with their monasteries, baroque churches and beautiful altars into the fold of the Confederation.

Mitte President Gerhard Pfister, the otherwise eloquent member of the National Council and academic from Zug, nowadays prefers to remain publicly silent when it comes to the subject of abuse. Because there are elections on October 22, the tactician does not want to risk anything in the home match. In order not to lose the lead over the FDP, as predicted by surveys, they switch to “low profile”. The party leadership is missing a historic opportunity.

Source:Blick