RTE News
June 2, 2010
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0602/abuse.html
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| Catholic Church Accused media of sensationalism |
Germany's top Catholic bishop has been charged with aiding and abetting a known abuser by allowing him to get a new job in a German parish.
Robert Zollitsch, head of the German Bishops' Conference and archbishop of Freiburg, was accused by prosecutors in Freiburg in southwest Germany of permitting a priest accused of child abuse in the 1960s to be re-appointed to a parish job in 1987.
However the Church in Freiburg accused the prosecutors and media of 'sensationalism' by talking of charges of 'aiding and abetting sexual abuse' against the 71-year-old archbishop and denied that the appointment was his direct responsibility.
It comes as Switzerland's Catholic bishops have toughened their stance against sexual abuse in the Church by announcing that offenders will systematically be reported to police.
They had previously said that only the most serious cases would be reported and they encouraged victims in other cases to file complaints with the police and get counselling from victim support centres.
But following today's meeting of the country's hierarchy, it was announced that, in cases where there are sufficient grounds for suspicion, offenders would be reported to police as a matter of course.
They said priests would have to undergo background checks before being granted a position in a diocese.
The bishops also issued new figures indicating a sharp increase in allegations of historical abuse by Catholic priests in the country.
Since the start of this year 104 alleged victims have come forward regarding 72 priests.
Nine of the cases are alleged to have taken place after 1990 and the remainder to the period after 1950.
Eleven of the cases involved victims who were under the age of 12 at the time of the abuse.
The unprecedented study covered all the dioceses in country whose population is 40% Catholic.
In March the bishops admitted they had 'underestimated' the scale of sexual abuse within the church.
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