Press TV
February 6, 2010
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118042§ionid=3510212
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| The prestigious Canisius College in Berlin is at the center of the scandal. |
Less than a week after a German Jesuit leader apologized over a deepening sexual abuse scandal at a prestigious Catholic institution, new reports paint a far grimmer picture of the crisis.
German media reported on Saturday that nearly 100 employees of the catholic Church have been suspected of involvement is sexual abuse over the past 15 years.
The new accusation comes after victims, who suffered abuse as students in four Jesuit-run schools in the 1970s and 80s came forward.
More than 20 of the victims assaulted at a Berlin school were between 13 and 14. A former Catholic priest admitted in early January to sexually abusing pupils in the 1970s and 1980s at a Berlin school where he taught.
The revelations have shocked the German public in the past weeks, with reports suggesting that while mostly young boys were targeted, girl students had also been molested.
According to a poll by the German magazine Der Spiegel, more than 94 clerics and laymen have been suspected of sexual abuse in German schools since 1995.
Of the 95, at least ten individuals are currently under suspicion, the magazine added.
The new estimate, which is higher than previously thought, may ignite calls for legal action against the sex offenders, only 30 of whom have so far been prosecuted and sentenced.
"These revelations show a dark face of the Church, which shocks me," DPA news agency quoted the secretary of the German Bishops' Conference, Hans Langendoerfer as saying.
"We want to address the subject openly," added Langendoerfer, who is a member of the Jesuit Order.
The cases of sexual abuse at Jesuit schools in Berlin during the 1970s and 80s spread from Berlin to Hamburg and the Black Forest, and at church institutions in Spain and Chile.
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