The Danish Catholic Church has misplaced a substantial portion of its secret archive at the bishop’s office and concerns have been raised it will impede an ongoing abuse scandal investigation.Twenty six cases of alleged abuse involving the Catholic Church have been reported to the authorities, and Bishop Czelaw Kozon had agreed to turn over his private archive to investigators to help with the matter.
According to church spokesman Fr. Niels Engelbrecht, the archive was moved from its location at Bredgade Street to Gammel Kongevej Road in Copenhagen about seven or eight years ago, and a portion of the archive went missing during the transfer.
‘We’ve looked high and low and everywhere, but after weeks of intense searching we simply can’t find it,’ Engelbrecht said.
Speaking with Berlingske Tidende newspaper, the spokesman denied that the church had deliberately removed the documents.
Copenhagen Police will reveal later this week how many of the abuse allegations being investigated fall within the statute of limitations boundaries.
‘It’s clear that if there’s material which has irrevocably disappeared and can’t be retrieved, then it would be very frustrating and damaging to the investigation,’ said deputy chief superintendent Svend Foldager, who is leading the investigation.SIC: TCP