The Catholic Church of Denmark is being criticised for secrecy and
inaction in its handling of the cases of several priests accused of
sexual abuse against young men.
The complaints follow the
announcement by the church on Sunday that it had completed its last and
most extensive investigation into the case of a priest who was suspended
in April 2010 after being accused by five separate people of indecent
exposure and sexual abuse.
In a brief statement the church announced that the official
investigation into the complaints had been completed and that the priest
would retire with pension as a result.
The church declined to reveal what its investigation into the complaints uncovered or why the priest retired.
“Our
conclusion is that the case is closed and the suspension is lifted. The
priest then asked if he could retire,” church spokesman Rev Niels
Engelbrecht told Berlingske newspaper.
The bishop of the Diocese
of Copenhagen, Czeslaw Kozon, however wrote in a letter to the people
who filed the complaint against the priest that the church had not been
able to determine whether the complaints were founded, and therefore
chose to give the priest the benefit of the doubt.
Frederik Roed, one of the men who accused the priest of sexual misconduct, was angered by the church’s conclusion.
“I
am deeply shocked that the Catholic bishop is choosing to close and
conceal the case after five people, independently of one another,
complained about the priest.”
He accused the church of cowardice by “letting the priest sneak off into retirement”.
“Doing so lets them avoid having to take up a fight and hold the priest accountable,” Roed said.