The Australian

Roger Boyes From: The Times March 18, 2010 2:03PM

THE most famous choir in the world has been caught up in the wave of paedophile scandals sweeping Germany and Austria, with eight former choristers denouncing their teachers in the past few days.

An open letter from the management of the Vienna Boys' Choir to parents expressed regret at the incidents, which were recounted by former singers now aged between 40 and 70.

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, called yesterday for truth and clarity in investigating paedophile abuse not only in church institutions but everywhere within the educational system. "We all agree that sexual abuse against children is a despicable crime," she told parliament.

So far about 300 claims of sexual abuse have been made by former pupils of German church schools and of non-denominational boarding schools, which have upset Church-State relations.

The Government is considering extending the statute of limitations on sexual abuse. At present an alleged offender cannot be prosecuted ten years after his victim reaches the age of 18. Many of the cases being made now were for abuse committed in the 1950s and early 1960s and the priests involved are dead or in old people's homes.

Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, the Justice Minister, offended church leaders by accusing the Vatican of covering up scandals and urged German bishops to co-operate with state prosecutors - something that the Church feels could erode its independence.

The Vienna Boys' Choir has no formal relationship with the Church and is, therefore, less politically sensitive. It is, however, the best-known choir in the world, performing 300 concerts a year and making millions out of Christmas records. "No one can undo injustice," a spokeswoman for the choir said. "At the moment listening is the most important thing we can do."

Claims of sexual abuse have also been made against the Regensburger Domspatzen boys' choir, which was run until 1994 by Georg Ratzinger, the Pope's brother. Mgr Ratzinger has denied all knowledge of paedophile sex.

The abuse has prompted questions about why priests who had offended or who were suspected of offending were simply transferred and allowed to resume duties involving children.

German church sources believe that this will be addressed in a papal letter to Irish bishops this week. "We need to clarify the boundary between the solidarity and forgiveness that we offer to sinning but repentant fellow priests, and the overriding need not to betray our responsibility towards the children in our charge," a senior cleric said.

Ms Merkel's speech indicated that the Government would step in to protect children if the Church failed to do so. "We will have to talk about changing the statute of limitations and ... about compensation," she said.

NPR – The Two Way NPR news blog

March 17, 2010

By Mark Memmott

A hotline set up by the world famous Vienna Boys Choir after an Austrian newspaper reported last week about allegations of past abuse has turned up eight more possible victims.

The choir reported the news of the additional allegations earlier today, the Associated Press writes.

As the AP reports:

In last week's article by the Der Standard newspaper, a 33-year-old who now lives in Berlin, was cited as saying he and others were pressured to wash their genitals in the shower while supervisors watched. He also said an older choir member forced him to perform oral sex at one point while he was a member of the choir from 1985 to 1987.

Another member, described as a 51-year-old psychologist living in Munich who sang with the group between 1966 and 1970, said a choir master rested his hand on his thigh for an hour while on a bus tour.

The new allegations come from men who now range in age from about 40 to over 70. The choir declined to specify what claims the men made, according to the AP.

Australia's ABC News says that Der Standard is quoting one of the men who has raised the new allegations as claiming that:

On the choir's trips, a teacher would call choirboys one by one to the back of the bus "to question them closely about sexual experiences."

In announcing the hotline, choir artistic director Gerald Wirth said last week that:

"It is unfortunate if the allegations about the choir are mixed in with reports about allegations of abuse in institutions of the Catholic Church: one has absolutely nothing to do with the other."

The choir is not affiliated with the church.

It has said it is "taking allegations of abuse in the past very seriously."

categories: Crime, Foreign News