Swiss Protestant Reformed Church commissions study on sexual abuse

The decision comes two years after a sweeping study by the University of Zurich found over 1,000 cases of sexual abuse in the Swiss Catholic Church beginning in the 1950s. Keystone-SDA

The Protestant Reformed Church of Switzerland is commissioning a scientific study to investigate sexual and spiritual abuse in the church. On Monday, the church parliament instructed the church council to commission such a study.

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The synod approved a cost ceiling of CHF250,000 ($309,500) for this project, spokesperson Stephan Jütte said in response to a question during the autumn synod. The study should be published by the end of 2027.

The decision to investigate sexual and spiritual abuse in the Protestant Reformed Church of Switzerland comes after a landmark study into the Catholic Church was published in September 2023. That study, conducted by the University of Zurich, uncovered over 1,000 cases of sexual abuse in the Swiss Catholic Church beginning in the mid-20th century.

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It also comes after a study by the Reformed Church in Germany revealed that abuse was also committed within this church. Rita Famos, president of the Protestant Reformed Church of Switzerland, subsequently said that she had also heard of many cases in the Swiss church.

Translated from German with DeepL/gw

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