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	Germany's Catholic Church Sex Abuse Hotline Goes Live Earth Times March 30, 2010 http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/316437,germanys-catholic-church-sex-abuse-hotline-goes-live.html GERMANY -- Germany's Catholic church set up a telephone hotline for sexual abuse victims on Tuesday, after several hundred reports of widespread mistreatment by priests emerged in recent months, dating back to the 1950s. Three days a week, trained advisors and therapists will now be available to answer calls to the free telephone number, set up by the Catholic church. "With this offer we want to encourage victims to contact us, irrespective of whether these are old or current cases," said the bishop of Trier, Stephan Ackermann, who has been appointed by the church to investigate sex abuse complaints. "We will do everything possible so sexual abuse in institutions of the Catholic church does not occur again," Ackermann added. The hotline was also welcomed by the Jesuit order of priests, where the first sexual abuse cases emerged in January, prompting hundreds of people to come forward with similar experiences. More than 250 abuse cases have now been registered. Ursula Raue, who has been appointed by the Jesuits to investigate the sexual abuse cases, said it was important that the hotline remained neutral and gave people the impression that their case was being taken seriously. Christian Weisner, of the reform Catholic movement We Are Church, welcomed the helpline but stressed the importance of alternatives which already existed for abuse victims to seek advice. "There are certainly people who have had such bad experiences with the church that they don't want to seek their advice," Weisner said. We Are Church has received calls from around 400 people reporting sexual abuse by clerics, after setting up an anonymous hotline in 2002.
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