The archdiocese of Cologne was ordered today to pay 300,000 euros in damages to a man who was repeatedly sexually abused by a priest in the 1970s. The victim, now 62, had suffered more than 300 sexual assaults by a priest of the Roman Catholic Church.

The court in Cologne (North Rhine-Westphalia) condemned the archdiocese to which the priest belonged to pay the victim 300,000 euros and to bear the costs of any future treatments for the possible psychological effects. The victim was asking for compensation of 750,000 euros.

The archdiocese, which did not dispute the facts and did not attempt to invoke the statute of limitations, can appeal the decision.

This decision may change the way victims of attacks by priest perpetrators are compensated. Until now the Roman Catholic Church has only compensated victims of sexual assault by priests following an appeal by the independent Commission for Identification Services (UKA) based in Bonn. Victims of pedophile priests have received a total of 40 million euros.

According to a university study released in 2018, 3,677 children were sexually assaulted by members of the clergy in Germany between 1946-2014. Investigators did not have access to all the records and the actual number of victims is believed to be much higher.

All dioceses have launched independent investigations to shed more light on these cases.