Dutch Catholic church agrees to set up compensation system for abuse victims

The Dutch branch of the Catholic church has agreed to launch a compensation system that clears the way for victims of abuse by priests and other church workers to receive payments of up to €100,000 ($138,000).

The country’s Bishops’ Conference and Conference of Religious Orders said in a statement Monday the new compensation system will likely come into effect next month.

Thousands of past cases of alleged sexual abuse by Dutch priests are under investigation by an independent but church-funded commission in the Netherlands, where the Catholic church has more than 4 million members.

 

The new compensation system has a scale of payments starting at €5,000 ($6,886) and rising to a maximum of €100,000 depending on the nature of the abuse.

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