Peter Kramer (priest)

German Catholic priest

Peter Kramer is a German Catholic priest who sexually abused children in the diocese of Regensburg.

## Early life and ordination

[edit]

Kramer was previously an auto mechanic, and he received a late ordination in 1997 after Abitur in Fockenfeld. He was then stationed in the locality of Viechtach.

## Abuse trial

[edit]

### 1999 indictment

[edit]

Kramer was removed from ministry two years later, after the local bishop was alerted that he had abused two boys near his parish. According to the judge who issued Kramer's indictment in 1999, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller's opinions were not given by him (as alleged by the court), but by the diocese in the person of a therapist chosen by the priest.[1][2] In 2000, Kramer was convicted in a non-public trial and was allowed to just serve a sentence of three years probation he was ordered to go to therapy and not work to with children during the probation.[3]

### 2004 legal memorandum

[edit]

A legal officer of the diocese, immediately after a conversation with the judge at court on 20 February 2004, issued a memorandum barring Kramer from pastoral care and contact with children. Kramer had been caught violating his court-ordered probation by serving in a parish with children starting in February 2001.[3] According to the guidelines of the German Bishops' Conference, in 2004 Kramer was considered a pedophile had been regarded as 2004 according to reports not pedophiles.[clarification needed] As provided for in paragraph 12, "2. After serving his sentence the offender no tasks are assigned to more that get him in connection with children and adolescents."[clarification needed][4][5]

### New allegations in 2007

[edit]

On 30 August 2007, Kramer was arrested on suspicion of further sexual abuse. Four weeks later, the Nuremberg Higher Regional Court declared that the judge in Viechtach had warned against reassigning the convicted priest to the youth ministry; however, it also said its report should not have official status, but serve as an opinion.[6][7] Kramer was then tried and convicted.[3]

### Role of Bishop Ludwig Müller

[edit]

In September 2007 allegations against Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller surfaced after the Passau Neue Presse revealed at the end of July that former chaplain "PK", convicted of sexual abuse in 2000, had been reassigned as a parish administrator in the autumn of 2004 without informing the affected community of his background. The diocese defended its actions on the basis of an opinion by the priest's therapist, avowing that his patient had recovered and he had no concerns about a reassignment; in addition, the court-imposed probationary period had passed without any further infractions.[8][9]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Müller to the Peter Kramer incident A Case Study of Sexual Abuse
2. ^ "Crossland Foundation :: Peter Kramer Case Study. A case study of clergy sexual abuse". www.crosslandfoundation.org.
3. ^ a b c "Peter Kramer A Case Study of Sexual Abuse, by Leon J. Podles, Leon J. Podles, February 19, 2008". www.bishop-accountability.org.
4. ^ Jörg Klotzek, “Kaplan missbraucht Buben – und wird Pfarrer,” Passauer Neue Presse, July 26, 2007.
5. ^ "Sexual Abuse Trial Against Ex-Priest Begins". Zimbio.
6. ^ A priest in Germany, Peter Kramer, who was convicted of pedophilia in 2000, has been arrested on further child-sex charges
7. ^ Christopher Wenzel, “Sexueller Missbrauch: Regensburger Bischof in Kreuzfeuer,” Die Welt, September 15, 2007.
8. ^ "German bishop apologises over paedophile priest". Reuters. September 21, 2007. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016 - via uk.reuters.com.
9. ^ "ZENIT article". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011.

* v
* t
* e

Catholic Church sexual abuse cases

Cases|

| By context|

* In confession

|

By country|

* Argentina
* Austria
* Australia
* Belgium
* Canada
* Chile
* El Salvador
* Germany
* Ireland
* Italy
* Poland
* Mexico
* New Zealand
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Venezuela

By religious
institute|

* English Benedictine Congregation
* Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God
* Christian Brothers
* Legion of Christ
* Salesian order
* Sisters of Mercy
* Society of Jesus

By clerical
rank|

| Cardinals|

* Hans Hermann Groër (1998)
* Stanisław Dziwisz (1998)
* Bernard Francis Law (2002)
* Angelo Sodano (2010)
* Keith O'Brien (2015)
* Edward Egan (2018)
* Theodore McCarrick (2019)
* Ricardo Ezzati (2019)

|

Bishops|

* Joseph Keith Symons (1998)
* Anthony O'Connell (2002)
* Georg Müller (2009)
* Raymond Lahey (2012)
* Józef Wesołowski (2013)
* Marco Órdenes Fernández (2018)
* Francisco José Cox (2018)
* Gonzalo Duarte García de Cortázar (2018)
* Cristián Caro Cordero (2018)
* Franco Mulakkal (2018)
* Juan Barros Madrid (2018)
* Philip Wilson (2018)
* Edward Joseph Adams (2019)

Priests|

* Category:Catholic priests convicted of sexual abuse

Responses|

| Catholic
Church|

| Holy See|

* Roman Curia
* Crimen sollicitationis (1962)
* The Role of the Church in the Causation, Treatment and Prevention of the Crisis in the Priesthood (1971)
* Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations (2005)
* Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (2014)
* Vatican sexual abuse summit (2019)
* Vos estis lux mundi [2019]

|

US Conference of
Catholic Bishops|

* Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (2002)
* John Jay Report (2004)

Other|

* Settlements and bankruptcies (since 1994)
* Virtus (1998)
* Hussey Commission (2002)

See also|

* Parish transfers of abusive Catholic priests (c. 1956–2011)

Governments|

* Hughes Inquiry
* Ferns Report
* Ryan Commission
* McCoy Report
* McCullough Report
* Murphy Report
* Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report
* Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Activists|

* Duplessis Orphans
* Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
* Voice of the Faithful
* Barbara Blaine
* David Clohessy
* Mitchell Garabedian
* Eric MacLeish
* Richard Sipe
* Phil Saviano

Pre-modern|

* Liber Gomorrhianus
* Katharina von Zimmern

Popular
culture|

* Judgment (1990 film)
* The Boys of St. Vincent (1992 miniseries)
* Sinéad O'Connor on Saturday Night Live (1992)
* Primal Fear (1996 film)
* Sex in a Cold Climate (1998 documentary)
* States of Fear (1999 documentary)
* "Red Hot Catholic Love" (2002 South Park episode)
* Suing the Pope (2002 documentary)
* The Magdalene Sisters (2002 film)
* Cardinal Secrets (2002 documentary)
* Song for a Raggy Boy (2004 film)
* Holy Water-Gate (2004 documentary)
* Twist of Faith (2004 documentary)
* Bad Education (2004 film)
* Our Fathers (2005 film)
* Sex Crimes and the Vatican (2006 documentary)
* Deliver Us from Evil (2006 film)
* Hand of God (2006 documentary)
* Doubt (2008 film)
* Brendan Smyth: Betrayal of Trust (2011 documentary)
* In the Name of the Son (2012 film)
* Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012 documentary)
* Secrets of the Vatican (2014 documentary)
* Perfect Obedience (2014 film)
* Spotlight (2015 film)
* The Club (2015 film)
* The Keepers (2017 documentary miniseries)
* Romans (2017 film)
* Clergy (2018 film)
* By the Grace of God (2019 film)
* Prey (2019 film)
* Tell No One (2019 documentary)
* Procession (2021 documentary)

Related|

* Debate on the causes of clerical child abuse
* Media coverage of Catholic sexual abuse cases
* Clericalism
* Homosexual clergy in the Catholic Church
* Anti-Catholicism
* Criticism of the Catholic Church
* In literature and media

* Law portal
* Catholicism portal

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[c.]: circa