Friday, May 28, 2010

Germany: 205 claims of abuse at Jesuit schools

A special investigator says in her final report that at least 205 former students claim to have been sexually or otherwise abused in Jesuit schools in Germany.

Investigator Ursula Raue said Thursday she thinks the number is even higher, as "we cannot expect to have heard everything yet."

She said 46 Jesuits and non-clerical staff at the schools have been accused of abuse or of knowing of such crimes without acting.

Raue was asked by the Jesuit order to investigate allegations of sexual abuse which surfaced at Berlin's Canisius Kolleg school in January and triggered a scandal that has shaken the Roman Catholic church in Germany.

In a preliminary report in February, Raue said 115 people had claimed to have been abused, most of them decades ago.

SIC: AP