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	German Catholic Church Pledges to Investigate All 170 Allegations of Abuse By Allan Hall The Times March 11, 2010 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7057536.ece The Roman Catholic Church in Germany ordered two separate investigations yesterday into allegations of widespread sexual abuse in its institutions, specifically at the Bavarian boarding school where the Pope’s brother served as choirmaster.With nearly two thirds of dioceses caught up in the widening scandal, the German Bishops’ Conference said that it would examine all 170 allegations made so far. A spokesman said that the investigation would take a close look at the Regensburger Domspatzen boys’ choir, led by Georg Ratzinger for 30 years until 1994. Several former members of the choir have made allegations of physical and sexual abuse. On Tuesday Monsignor Ratzinger, the Pope’s brother, admitted that he had slapped students on occasion but said that he was not aware of sexual abuse. Karl Justen, a spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference, said that the inquiry would ask what the Pope knew about the allegations while he was Bishop of Munich and Friesing between 1977 and 1982. “We do not know if the Pope knew about the abuse cases,” Father Justen said. “However, we assume that this is not the case.” The Regensburg diocese appointed Andreas Scheulen, a lawyer, to conduct a separate investigation of abuse at the school and its choir. “The independent lawyer will thoroughly go through all existing legal papers, all court decisions and any information available,” Jacob Schotz, the spokesman of the diocese, said. “We expect to publish first results within two weeks.” Yesterday four new sites of purported sexual abuse of children were highlighted. One is the Catholic children’s home Vincenzhaus in Hofheim. A man named Ralf H. told a German newspaper that he was abused there between 1960 and 1964. He recalled being woken in the night by a teacher caressing him. “It robbed me of my identity and tore away my very foundations,” he said. Afterwards, he said, it was the victims who were sent to the chapel to pray all day for forgiveness. Initially the Catholic-linked Carita charity issued a statement saying that his experience was an “isolated incident”. Then it admitted that in the past few weeks three more people had come forward alleging “abuse and sexual encroachments”. Another Catholic institution under scrutiny is the Franz Sales House, a facility for handicapped people in the western city of Essen. Rolf-Michael Decker was 14 when he was sent there. “One night K, one of the teachers, stood in front of my bed and told me to come with him. He took me to his room, locked the door and told me to take off my nightshirt. He began fondling me and undressed himself,” he said. In Limburg five priests and church workers are accused of abusing children from the 1950s to the 1970s while similar allegations of abuse have surfaced at the Ernst-Schneller children’s home at Eilenburg near Leipzig.
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