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	Church Calls for Independent Investigation into Sex Abuse Radio Netherlands March 7, 2010 http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/independent-investigation-call-catholic-church-sex-abuse he Roman Catholic church in the Netherlands is calling for an independent investigation into reports of widespread sexual abuse within its institutions. Bishop Ad van Luyn made his call for the investigation in the TV programme Kruispunt; he says it is the job of the church to clearly condemn abuse and to apologise to vicitims. He says he also wants to ensure measures are taken to prevent any repetition of sexual abuse in the future. Allegations of child sex abuse by priests at a boarding school in the eastern town of ‘s-Heerenberg came to light following an investigation by Radio Netherlands Worldwide and Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. First published a week ago our articles showed that during the 1960s and 1970s at least three and possibly more pupils were sexually abused at the school attached to the Don Rua monastery of the Salesians of Don Bosco. Bishop Van Luyn, who now chairs the Netherlands Synod of Bishops, was provincial head of the Salesian order at the time of the abuse, and a teacher at the school. Now a week later almost 200 people have contacted the Roman Catholic help agency Help & Justice (Hulp & Recht) with further reports of sexual abuse. A spokesperson said he was shocked by the large number of reports and says Help&Justice are now bringing in extra people to help out. Further investigation by Radio Netherlands Worldwide and NRC Handelsblad has revealed that in 2006, the church in Utrecht closed a deal with insurance company Aegon to set aside one million euros to cover claims demanded by victims who have been sexually abused by Catholic priests. Any damages exceeding the one million euros must be paid by the church.
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