Tuesday, February 23, 2010

German Catholic church apologizes to abuse victims

The head of Germany's Catholic church has offered an apology to all victims who were sexually abused by priests.

Reinhard Zollitsch, the head of Germany's bishop's council, on Monday condemned sexual abuse of minors as a "heinous crime."

He vowed to fully investigate all reported cases and to cooperate with prosecutors. The bishop also pledged to raise the issue with Pope Benedict XVI at a meeting in Rome next month.

Zollitsch's statement at the start of a regular bishops conference in the southwestern city of Freiburg marked the first high-level reaction as an abuse scandal in Catholic schools in Germany is widening.

In recent weeks, dozens of victims said they were sexually abused by priests at a Berlin high school since the 1970s and 1980s.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: TN