Statement from the Territorial Prelature of Trondheim

The Catholic Church in Norway has been shaken to its very foundations with the announcement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on 6 April that Bishop Müller, the former prelate-bishop of Trondheim has plead guilty to sexual abuse of a minor, and that this was the reason for his resignation at Pentecost last year.

I am, on a personal note, struggling to find the necessary words at this time. First and foremost I wish to express my sympthaties with the victim, and I hope and pray that his wishes for anonymity are respected. The burden he carries is demanding enough. The matter has been dealt with according to the guidelines of the Church, and the needs and wishes of the victim has been met and respected as best as possible.

Following in from this I would like to express my shame on behalf of the Church and emphasise that Müller has acted contrary to all the regulations that he is subject to and the vows that he has made. As I said in one of my homilies during Holy Week, when I discussed the child abuse scandals in general in the Catholic Church around the world:

During the entire history of the Church no one who has abused children or minors has done so with any kind of permission. The words of the Gospel that "anyone who leads astray one of the least" is eternal and eternally valid. Because of this such matters, with a few extreme exceptions, have always happened in darkness and secret. The betrayl of the children has at the same time been a betrayl of the Church and the mission of the Church.

A small ray of light in the midst of the dispair we all feel today is that the Holy See in the case of Müller acted swiftly, directly and with immdiate result when the matter was reported. Even though the case has gone beyond the time of prescription in Norwegian penal law, the internal justice of the Church remains in force. Because of this, Müller is today without any ministry in the Church.

In these sad days we can do little else than try to act correctly and in a structured manner, working streneously to ensure that anything like this will never happen again and turn to God in penance and prayer for the victim, for the clergy and faithful of the prelature, for the Church in Norway and for all who suffer due to this or other abuse cases in the world. Again, I quote from the same homily as above:

Is it possible that the horrors we are now experiencing could lead to anything good? I believe so, bu we must try to see it together. This is the kind of cleansing that the Church has experiences several times in its history: At the great schisms, with heresies or persecutions, when suspicion or political interventions made the life of the Church demanding. The difference is that this hits us all in the heart and in our weakness. The sadness we are now plagued with, is not simple sadness or grief, and therefore, it is horrible to bear. I will ask you to consider the children who are protected from abuse because we are finally putting in place the necessary boundaries. (...) We must once more stand up and become clearly visable as the Body of Christ, where the good alone reigns and where evil is not accepted.

I assure the faithful in the prelature of Trondheim especially of my prayers during these days. This is a heavy burden that you in no way have deserved. Pray also for me, that I may receive the grace and strenght to be a good shepherd in a difficult time for us all.

I refer also to my "Letter to the faithful in a difficult time for the Church" and to the above mentioned homily.

Klosterneuburg, Austria, 6 April 2010

+ Bernt Eidsvig

Apostolic Administrator of Trondheim

KI - Katolsk Informasjonstjeneste (Oslo); (fh) (7. april 2010)