Almost 2,000 people have declared themselves victims of sexual and physical abuse while they were minors in the care of the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands, an independent commission said.
worldbulletin.net
Thursday, 09 December 2010 15:49
Almost 2,000 people have declared themselves victims of sexual and physical abuse while they were minors in the care of the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands, an independent commission said on Thursday.
The investigation into abuses dating back to 1945 shows that the Netherlands ranks second worst behind Ireland in a scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in Europe and the United States. It has also forced Pope Benedict to apologise to victims of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests.
The church-appointed commission’s findings were requested by the Dutch bishops’ conference after cases surfaced involving paedophile priests in the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Canada and the United States.
“I am very respectful of the people who came forward because declaring yourself a victim is a big step,” said Wim Deetman, a Protestant former education minister and former mayor of The Hague who heads the commission.
Asked whether the report could lead to pressure for a shake-up in the church hierarchy, Deetman said: “It is too soon to say that. We will see that at the end of next year after discussions with a lot of people. But the bishops conference has asked us to look at managerial responsibilities.”
Deetman urged the Church to set up an effective system of financial compensation for the victims, a special organisation to assist them and Church disciplinary action if needed.
“We have a list of perpetrators and we are in talks with some of them,” he said.
The commission will follow up at the end of 2011 to see whether its recommendations have been implemented.
Deetman said Church organisations had waited too long to come up with a professional approach to complaints about abuse.
“We want to regain trust and do justice to the victims. The question whether a case has expired (for purposes of legal action) or not should not be a guiding principle,” he said.
Deetman said his commission had informed the public prosecutor about a handful of cases.
Some Dutch cases have already gone to court, for example in the southwest town of Middelburg where a victim, now 34, is seeking financial compensation from a former priest, now 88.
Victims in countries including Ireland, Austria, Italy and the pope’s native Germany came forward this year. Bishops in several European countries have resigned either because they were unmasked as abusers or had covered up abuse cases.
Are all 2,000 victims of clerical sexual abuse? I think there may be some who were sexually abused and others who were physically abused? I have tried without success as yet to find a break down in numbers.
I became aware of the news story from dutch news sources earlier today and viewed interviews on TV (Brabant Nieuws and other). This is what I can summarize: 1) there is an overwhelming number of reports – no one expected 2,000. Due to overwhelming numbers this process was deemed not effective; 2)Reporters referred to scxual, not phyisical abuse. 3) victims have asked for a parliametary investigation – not dutch Roman Catholic Church. 4) No compensation yet; 5) victim requests for apology got a rather lawyer-ish response: ‘we are addressing the issue and this action is a form of apology”. Process also referred to as the Deetman(s) report.
Thanks 1YELLOWKNIFE.
Those are astronomical numbers. There absolutely must be an investigation conducted and I think it goes without saying that it absolutely can NOT be conducted by Duth Church officials.
Imagine the audacity of saying that the investigation is a form of apology. Will they really never learn?
Both physical and sexual abuse.
I think appointing a protestant to head the investigation aids credibility and transparency.
I attended a protestant-run boarding school in The Netherlands. I was not abused. I did receive an inquiry in the past year asking me if there was anyhthing which needed reporting.
I think the Dutch inquiry has cast the net wide: 1945-2010 is more than half a century. Good for them.
I think thought was given to making the reporting of the abuse as non-intimdating as possible. Good for them.
I understand they were completely overwhelmed by the number of abuse reports they received. Well, that fits with what is being experienced elsewhere – cleric abuse is mindboggling in its scope and range in Canada as well.
Their next steps will be interesting. Maybe we can learn from it.
In response in an inquiry: yes, nuns were also reported as abusers (sexual and physical). One abuse report is from a male who was sexually abused simultaneously by 2 nuns. (time frame: 1959)
There are many protestant clergy who are child abusers and child molesters. Protestant churches are individual churches managed by a committe of a particular church. So do not have money . So no one sues them .In the united states a famous protestant ministers daughter sexualy molested, abused and killed a little girl of 7. I think it is a mostly white man’s and women’s problem . We hear less of these things in other ethnic groups.
Michael you have to get rid of that beam in your eye poor fellow
Michael B.–You are standing too close to the mirror ! Tim
Michael, there are countless lawsuits against non-Catholic churches and ministers. I come across them daily. Here are links to a few:
http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2869207
http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/824807
http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/09/21/bishop-eddie-long-multiple-men-alleged-he-coerced-sex-from-them/
http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/full_story.asp?StoryNumber=48405
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/848191–new-sex-charges-against-former-choirmaster
http://eurekaencyclopedia.com/index.php/Category:Episcopal_Church_of_Canada
http://www.rickross.com/reference/communityofjesus/communityofjesus26.html
Michael I agree with your assessment re protestant denominations and abuse. Smaller denominations; less formalized hierarchy; probably less accountability. I don’t quite understand the commotion. I think when an organization (in this case the dutch roman catholic church) has their recently concluded investigation headed by a non catholic former parliamentarian – it may add to credibility of the findings. They could have asked a Buddist or a Ba’hai. Its the lets-break-the-silence spirit I applaud. Am I missing something here…