Church Admits Abuse at School for Germany's Most Famous Boy's Choir

New Age
February 24, 2015

http://www.thenewage.co.za/152704-1020-53-Church_admits_abuse_at_school_for_Germanys_most_famous_boys_choir

A former longtime director and several teachers are accused of physically abusing children over decades at the school of the most well-known children's choir in Germany, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg said Tuesday.

Seventy-two children who went to the school for the Regensburger Domspatzen choir have stepped forward to say they were abused from 1953 to 1992, the diocese in the southern state of Bavaria said. They said they were hit with fists, rods and a bunch of keys.

The diocese said it acknowledged the abuse had taken place and offered payment of damages of 2,500 euros (2,840 dollars) in each case.

"The money is no compensation but a symbolic acknowledgement of the pain that was done to these children," vicar general Michael Fuchs said.

Many of the 8- to 10-year-old boys in the school lived in permanent state of fear, a preliminary report compiled by the diocese said.

The abuse occurred while the school was headed by the priest Johann Meier, who has since died.

The statute of limitations has expired for both criminal and civil cases over the abuse, Andreas Scheulen, an attorney for the diocese, said, adding that he advised his client to explain how the abuse could have gone on for so long.

The Regensburger Domspatzen, which means "cathedral sparrows," is Germany's oldest children's choir and one of the world's most famous. The widely travelled choir celebrated its 1,000 birthday in 1976. Its home is at St Peter's Cathedral in Regensburg.