German Church Sets Rules on Abuse

01 September 2010

By VANESSA FUHRMANS and JOHN W. MILLER

Germany’s Roman Catholic bishops announced tighter standards for reporting and handling clerical sexual-abuse cases Tuesday but stopped short of adopting tough guidelines used by the U.S. Catholic Church, as the scandal surrounding priestly abuse flared up in Europe.

[European Pressphoto Agency Stephan Ackermann, the bishop of Trier, announces new guidelines.]

 

The German guidelines, which are meant to improve upon rules that German bishops implemented in 2002, come seven months after several decades-old abuse allegations at a Jesuit preparatory school in Berlin unleashe