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	Catholic Schools in Germany Investigate Child Sex Abuse Evidence Earth Times January 31, 2010 http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/306800,catholic-schools-in-germany-investigate-child-sex-abuse-evidence.html GERMANY -- Two Catholic Church schools in Germany were gathering evidence Sunday against two Jesuit priests who are alleged to have had sex with boys in the 1970s but were never prosecuted. Berlin public prosecutors have said they are studying the alleged actions of the two teaching priests, both now retired. But it appeared they could not be charged with the 22 acts between 1975 and 1982 because the cases are out of time. Klaus Mertes, the principal of Canisius College, a posh Berlin co-ed school run by the Jesuit Order of priests, has said he is checking how the preceding headmaster reacted to the cases after one priest confessed. The allegations have revived criticism of Catholic leaders for allegedly covering up child abuse instead of reporting it to police. Berlin newspaper reports say a second priest who is accused of sex with schoolboys in the 1970s flatly rejects the allegations. At St Blasius College in the southern German town of St Blasien, headmaster Johannes Siebner said Sunday he was studying whether similar sexual abuse occurred at that school when the same self-admitted abuser taught there in the 1980s. "I have to assume and do assume that there were cases of sexual abuse at St Blasius College too," said Siebner, who is a former Canisius pupil and is now a priest. "I know some of the pupils who were abused, but I didn't know at the time that it was happening." The revelations were triggered by a January letter of apology to several former pupils from the former sports teacher, 65, who confessed and left the Jesuit Order in 1991 and now lives in Chile. Both Jesuit headmasters criticized the previous generation of leadership in their order for covering up the abuse. "It's pretty obvious that the Jesuit Order failed over this," said Siebner. The order is a worldwide association of priests under direct papal authority.
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