Europe News

Report: More cases of child abuse suspected in Catholic schools

Feb 6, 2010, 13:12 GMT

Berlin - Nearly 100 employees of the Catholic Church have been suspected of involvement is sexual abuse during the last 15 years, German media reported Saturday.

The accusation comes following revelations of abuse at four Jesuit-run schools in the 1970s and 80s.

A survey of all 27 German dioceses revealed that at least 94 clerics and lay staff have been suspected of child abuse since 1995, Spiegel news magazine reported.

That estimate is higher than previously thought.

Of those, 30 cases had reportedly been prosecuted and sentenced. Others had already fallen under the statute of limitations when they were found out about, so no legal action could be taken.

At least ten individuals were currently under suspicion, the magazine added.

The secretary of the German Bishops' Conference, Hans Langendoerfer, said, 'These revelations show a dark face of the Church, which shocks me.'

'We want to address the subject openly,' added Langendoerfer, who is a member of the Jesuit Order.

Earlier in the week, cases of sexual abuse during the 1970s and 80s came to light at Jesuit schools in Berlin, Hamburg and the Black Forest, and at church institutions in Spain and Chile.