Overview

• Archdiocese of Munich and Freising has commissioned the Frankfurter Institut für Sozialarbeit und Sozialpädagogik to investigate alleged abuses at Traunstein’s Studienseminar St. Michael.
• Investigators are documenting systematic physical, psychological and spiritual violence against minors at the seminary from the 1960s through the 1980s.
• Early interviews have revealed isolated incidents of sexualized violence by adults and confirm that no support mechanisms were available for victims at the time.
• Former pupils describe corporal punishment, public humiliation and false accusations used by educators to enforce discipline and suppress dissent.
• The study has issued a call for additional witnesses and will release its initial findings in autumn 2026.