Catholic Church clashes with German government over abuse probe

Feb 24, 2010, 11:32 GMT

Freiburg, Germany - A row between the German government and the country's Catholic church escalated Wednesday, as a minister who accused the church of failing to cooperate with the police in a child abuse case refused to back down.

The row centres on revelations that some church school teachers had abused pupils in more than 100 cases between the 1960s and 1980s.

Justic Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger has accused the church of not showing enough enthusiasm in cooperating with the police inquiry.

That led to the country's most senior archbishop ringing Chancellor Angela Merkel's office to complain about the minister's remarks.

Church spokesman Matthias Kopp confirmed that Archbishop Robert Zollitsch phoned Merkel to complain about the Justice Minister. The pair talked on Tuesday afternoon, according to Merkel's office.

Zollitsch is Germany's top Catholic and chairs the Catholic Bishops' Conference.

The bishops met on Tuesday to discuss the allegations that some teachers had groped and spanked semi-naked pupils.

Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, who belongs to the junior party in the Merkel coalition, the Free Democrats, had called Monday on church leaders to decide 'to cooperate constructively with the crime- fighting authorities, provide evidence and help uncover this.'

She also complained that Catholic leaders 'have not shown an active interest in a truly uninhibited and thorough investigation.'

On Tuesday, Zollitsch gave her a 24-hour deadline to withdraw 'the gravest attack for years' on the church by any government minister. Kopp said Wednesday the archbishop had nothing more to say.

But the minister was unrepentant. She said the church should set up a round table meeting with the police to investigate past cases. She accused the Catholic Church guidelines on investigating sexual abuse did not ensure victims obtained their rights.

The church traditionally has close ties with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Merkel's party, but it has also been upset at the chancellor, who is a Lutheran, for publicly criticizing Pope Benedict XVI.