Press TV
February 15, 2010
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118673§ionid=3510212
GERMANY -- Germany's heinous sexual abuse scandal, which has cast shadow over the country's Jesuit-run institutions, deepens with the likelihood of over 100 victims in one of the schools.
Revelations about sexual abuse during the 1970s and 80s at a prestigious Berlin snowballed into a disaster in early February, implicating other schools run by the order in and out of Germany.
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| The prestigious Canisius College in Berlin is at the center of the scandal. |
Some 50 students have come forward with allegation of abuse, but the Berlin college's rector said Monday he believed the victims in that school alone would amount to at least 100.
"I believe that it will turn out to be a three-digit number…More and more victims come forward every day," Klaus Mertes, director of the Canisius Kolleg told the Berliner Zeitung daily in an interview.
The high school instructs pupils between 10 to 19 years of ages, and is one of Germany's most prestigious religious colleges.
While at least three Jesuit priests have so far confessed to their crimes, German media reports say at least 100 clergymen have been under suspicion of abusing pupils during the past 15 years.
The new estimate, which is higher than previously thought, may ignite calls for legal action against the sex offenders, only 30 of whom have so far been prosecuted and sentenced.
Repeated revelations about pedophile priests have rocked the Roman Catholic Church in recent years, tainting the reputation of priesthood.
Earlier on Monday the Vatican reportedly summoned Irish bishops to discuss reports of widespread child abuse in churches in Ireland.
The unprecedented two-day summit to discuss the controversial issue will see Pope Benedict the XVI meeting with 24 senior Irish clergymen.
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