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	Article Imagenew Revelations of More Abuses Within German Catholic Church By R. C. Camphausen Digital Journal February 6, 2010 http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/287156 GERMANY -- What started in January as a possibly singular infestation of a single school has now snowballed into a full-fledged scandal that has gripped Germany with surprise, shock and shame. The bad news is that most of the crimes now being uncovered have occurred in years past, so they cannot legally be prosecuted anymore. This because in Germany, the statute of limitations for crimes of this nature ends 10 after the victim has turned 18; meaning that the victims of these abuses would have needed to come forward years earlier. Various press reports, says MSN World News, mention that close to 30 cases have meanwhile been reported, and apart from Berlin the cities of Hamburg, St. Blasien in southern Germany and Hildesheim near Hanover have been named. Another Digital Journal journalist has previously reported about the alleged violent and sexual abuses that have been rampant at one of Berlin's foremost gymnasiums run by Jesuit priests, but in the wake of such media attention more abuse has now been uncovered, more victims have come forward and a third teacher has admitted his role and turned himself over to police. This third priest is named in the papers as Bernhard E., who is now 70 years old and the holder of numerous honorary doctorate degrees. The Irish Times, very much used to reporting on a similar scandal that unfolded in Ireland, has the following short summary in a Feb. 6th article about the German situation: After years of watching Ireland's unfolding clerical abuse drama, Germany now has its own home-grown scandal. What started at Berlin's top Catholic school has, within a week, exploded into a familiar, depressing narrative. Physical violence against children; the sickening abuse of trust by priests; and the cowardly decision to move the abusers on to new pastures and new victims rather than dealing with the problem. Germany's Catholic church has not been immune to abuse allegations over the years but, until now, abusing priests were portrayed as isolated black sheep. But that has changed with revelations of systematic abuse at Canisius College, founded in 1925 and still one of Berlin's most exclusive schools. Frater Mertes of Canisius College, where the scandal started to unveil on Jan. 24th, is convinced what we see right now is just "the tip of the iceberg"
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