TRIER (GERMANY)
Blue Entertainment [Volketswil, Switzerland]
December 1, 2024
“Tatort: Schweigen” has Inspector Falk investigate a case of systematic abuse in the Catholic Church. What real case does the plot allude to and what is the truth of the allegations?
Since 1970, “Tatort“, Germany’s favorite crime show, has repeatedly tackled phenomena and crises in the country in the form of socially relevant 90-minute episodes. It is therefore all the more surprising that there has not yet been a case about the abuse scandals in the churches.
The Catholic Church in particular has been in the spotlight since 2010. Was the abuse of children and young people in the church really systematic in nature?
How did this system work? Did the church cooperate in the film project? And what will happen with the new loner detective Falke (Wotan Wilke Möhring)?
What was it all about?
Hamburg detective Thorsten Falke (Wotan Wilke Möhring) retreated to a monastery for a while after the death of his colleague Julia Grosz. There he did simple work and lived in a barren monk’s chamber.
On his last evening within the sacred walls, Falke celebrated his farewell with Daniel (Florian Lukas), who is as nice as he is unstable and who, like Falke, was looking for answers to his not-so-successful life. That night, a caravan outside the monastery caught fire.
It was the retreat of Pastor Otto (Hannes Hellmann), who also coached the local boys’ football team. Investigations by “private citizen” Falke and local detective Eve Pötter (Lena Lauzemis) soon revealed the truth:
Father Otto was apparently involved with child pornographic material. Did cathedral vicar Billing (Sebastian Blomberg), who had an argument with his colleague shortly before Otto’s death, also know about it?
What was it really about?
Since 2010, child abuse in the Catholic Church has been investigated and exposed on a large scale. The Church itself is also involved.
In 2018, a major study commissioned by the German Bishops’ Conference was published, which showed that around 3,700 children and young people in Germany had been sexually abused by 1,670 perpetrators between 1946 and 2014.
“Tatort” director Stefan Dähnert (“Wegwerfmädchen”) drew inspiration for his film from a specific case that is pending before the public prosecutor’s office in Saarbrücken.
“A police officer had been looking for his deceased uncle’s birth certificate in his house for the funeral – and found child pornographic material,” says Dähnert. “The priest from the diocese of Trier had thousands of photos and slides.
These photos were probably passed around in certain circles. People thought they had already learned everything about abuse in the Catholic Church. But we only realized here that there were priests who shared children with each other.”
Can we speak of “systematic abuse”?
Yes, the public prosecutor’s office in Saarbrücken confirmed this at the request of NDR author Dähnert. The author of the “Tatort” script reports: “I then asked the public prosecutor’s office:
If we claim that there was a pedophile ring in the Catholic Church, will we get in trouble? The answer was: No. Unfortunately, there is a lot of truth to our story.”
Even though the Catholic Church is involved in investigative work, the church’s long-standing practice of covering up perpetrators instead of handing them over to the legal system has been criticized. Covered up by church superiors, the perpetrators were rather removed “internally” and transferred to new positions, where they often committed new abuse.
What is known about abuse in the Catholic Church in Switzerland?
In Switzerland, too, there was evidence of abuse of children and young people by members of the church on a large scale.
In 2019, theSwiss CatholicChurch published an internal study that showed that at least 1,000 victims were identified between 1950 and 2020.
In 2021, a comprehensive study was commissioned, which revealed that more than 500 priests and other church employees had been accused of sexual abuse by victims and witnesses.
In Switzerland, too, there was a systematic culture of cover-up of abuse by church leaders, similar to the approach in other countries.
Why was there so much abuse in the Catholic Church in particular?
The cliché answer is: because Catholic priests live in celibacy, which forbids marriage and sexual relationships. These would then be acted out “undercover” by the clergy in the interests of draining their sex drive.
However, “Tatort” author Stefan Dähnert disagrees: “I think it’s too easy to say that abstinence causes so many sexual urges to build up that they simply have to come out.
I rather believe that people with pedophilic tendencies consciously choose celibacy in order to get a grip on their sexuality. This fundamental evil makes the Catholic Church a reservoir for people who have problems with their sexuality.”
Did the church cooperate in the filming?
Wotan Wilke Möhring, who delivers one of his best acting performances of the Falke years in this film, is no more a believer himself than his character.
Nevertheless, the 57-year-old recalls that the church also made a contribution to this film: “I have great respect for the diocese in whose monastery we were allowed to shoot ‘Tatort’. The people in charge had read the book beforehand. With this consent, the diocese has tried to make an important contribution.”
What’s next for Wotan Wilke Möhring’s “Tatort”?
Shooting of “Tatort: Ein guter Tag /Schwarzer Schnee” was announced for October 22, 2024. The two-parter is a co-production with the Dutch TV channel NPO.
The story: car dealer Joe Glauning disappears at a campsite in the German-Dutch border region near Emden – he has left behind his personal papers, keys and cell phone. Traces of blood point to a capital crime.
This time Falke teams up with cybercriminal Mario Schmitt (Denis Moschitto) and Dutch detective Lynn de Baer (Gaite Jansen, “Peaky Blinders”, “Line of Duty”). It was written and directed by multiple Grimme Award winners Hans Steinbichler and Alexander Adolph.