The Dutch Catholic Church and the Salesian order are investigating
revelations that a Salesian priest served on the board of a group that
promotes paedophilia with the full knowledge of his boss.
The
order's top official in the Netherlands, Delegate Herman Spronck,
confirmed in a statement that the priest - identified by RTL Nieuws as
73-year-old 'Father Van B.' - served on the board of a group that
campaigns to end the Dutch ban on adult-child sex.
The group is widely reviled but not outlawed.
'Of
course we reject this and distance ourselves from this personal
initiative' on the part of the priest, Spronck said in a statement.
'Membership in such organizations does not fit with the ethos of the Salesian order.'
However,
Spronck's own superior in Belgium said he will investigate both Spronck
and Van B., after both men were quoted by RTL Nieuws as saying such
relationships aren't always harmful.
Superior Jos Claes told
Belgian television on Saturday he 'couldn't imagine' that both men would
not be disciplined, but said he must make sure of the facts first.
'Society
thinks these relationships are harmful. I disagree,' RTL quoted Van B.
as saying. He served on the organisation's board from 2008 until 2010,
when its founder was arrested for alleged possession of child
pornography, a case that is ongoing.
Van B. told RTL he remains a member of the group and now lives in a retirement home in eastern Netherlands.
In
a second interview, RTL quoted Spronck as saying he was aware of Van
B.'s paedophilia and membership, and even of two instances where the
priest had been fined by police for exposing himself in public.
But he
said he didn't think that was sufficient reason to ban him from the
order.
'Removing someone from the order is something you would
only do in the case of grave moral transgression, such as rape. There
was never any question of that,' Spronck was quoted as saying.
Spronck added that adult-child sexual relations do not necessarily have to be damaging, including with children as young as 12.
Spronck
and his organisation could not be reached Saturday for comment.
According to its website, the Dutch arm of the Salesians has 14
employees and 400 volunteers and aims to help poor children.
Dutch
Catholic Church spokesman Pieter Kohnen said Saturday that, even with
sex abuse scandals rocking the church worldwide, this particular case
was 'unbelievable' and the church utterly rejects paedophilia.
He
said if Superior Claes did not act quickly to reform the Dutch Salesian
order's leadership, the matter would be referred to Rome.
RTL's
report detailed Van B.'s movements over two decades, through three
dioceses and six parishes in the Netherlands where the priest often
departed under a cloud of suspicion.
Pastor Rudy de Kruijf in the
eastern city of Wijchen said Van B. had helped him as recently as
Christmas, but his church ended contact immediately when it learned of
his past.
Kohnen said the Church has done extensive background
checks on all employees since 2004, but in Van B.'s case that would not
have helped since he was a volunteer.
Thousands of past cases of
alleged sexual abuse by Dutch priests are under investigation by an
independent but church-funded commission in the Netherlands.
The
Dutch church, which has more than 4 million members, set up a body to
deal with abuse allegations in 1995.
But the independent commission was
formed last year after shocking abuse cases were uncovered just as
similar stories were snowballing in neighboring Germany.
Several
of the most prominent abuse cases coming to light recently in the
Netherlands have also involved Salesians at boarding schools and
orphanages in the 1950s and 1960s.