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	Nothing New By Marcel Van Silfhout Oman Tribune December 21, 2011 http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=columnist_details&column_id=558&heading=Columnists The findings of the child abuse scandal probe was as predicted Although awful, the child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church isn't something new. And the outcome of the investigation was, more or less, as predicted: it took place on a large scale. But still, the devastating results of the investigating committee headed by former Dutch minister Wim Deetman shocked The Netherlands. Nobody thought it would be so massive: "In between 1945 and 1985 about 10,000 to 20,000 Dutch children have been abused by Roman Catholic priests and clerics," Deetman's report stated. Some thousands of those children have been raped. Once more, throughout the whole world, at least in the parts where Roman Catholic schools and other institutions for youngsters are in plenty, child abuse has been reported. The first scandals were exposed in Ireland. Next came the United States, Australia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium. Revelations in Holland came relatively late, most assumedly due to the common feeling that 'The Netherlands' always has been a calm and normal country where these things just didn't happen. So, once more, The Netherlands had to wake up in shock. If one looks closely at the report, into the 'facts and figures', it's remarkable to see that sexual abuse was widely known within the higher levels of the church. The policy was a simple one: silence. This 'cover up approach and culture of secrecy' was informally but effectively proclaimed by the Vatican in Rome. To protect the image of the church was far more important than admitting to the existence of child abusers amongst its own ranks. A question that perplexes all is, how come in all this time people didn't see this ugly reality, this ugly truth? The part answer is that the church has been a powerful, highly respected if not feared institution. Another part of the explanation is that celibacy and sexuality are taboo and not something to speak about. So, who will dare to admit the existence of these sex scandals? Deetman's report, though, doesn't stress too much on celibacy since it's more the total silence which created the possibilities for practising paedophilia. Another remarkable outcome of the report is the fact that well known bishops and cardinals in The Netherlands appeared to have known more about the child abuse perpetrated by their priests. Some of them, like Cardinal Simonis, have been severely criticised. In the popular late night talk show Pauw & Witteman he dared to say a year ago: 'Wir habben es nicht gewusst,' ('We didn't know') a phrase similar to the famous understatement made by Germans after World War II when they tried to explain their failure to prevent atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. Simonis excused himself the other day for using this notorious phrase, but now it appears that he did know far more. That means he lied. It's intriguing to see that some former famous bishops were involved in the abuse and were even able to promote some of the known paedophiles as priests. Deetman has said that the Dutch Justice Department didn't start investigations or prosecution while it was informed about some cases of child abuse. Hopefully this part of the story will be investigated more intensely as soon as possible. Some Dutch lawyers have already stated that they want to take the whole Catholic Church to court. "There are enough reasons to prosecute them as a criminal organisation," advocate Jan Boone and some of his colleagues said. Some victims will go for large amounts of money as compensation for the immense damage done to them. But perhaps the most important role is for politicians and society. We all have to admit that child abuse is related to situations in which children are left alone in vulnerable circumstances. One of the surprisingly new findings in the report is the ugly statistical truth that out of every 10 people in Holland older than 40 years now, one has been sexually offended by an adult non-family member before the age of 18. The Deetman report would not have been written without the excellent investigative journalism of Joep Dohmen (NRC Handelsblad) and Robert Chesal (Radio Netherlands Worldwide) in 2010. It shows, once more, how important this form of journalism is.
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