NETHERLANDS
Voice of America

Posted Wednesday, March 21st

The Dutch parliament has called for an investigation into reports that Catholic clerics ordered castrations of boys in the 1950s in an attempt to cure their homosexuality.

Dutch lawmakers discussed the issue Tuesday after a report in the local newspaper NRC Handelsblad said more than 10 boys from a Catholic boarding school had been castrated.

The report focused on a man named Henk Hethuis who allegedly was castrated in 1956 on the instruction of Catholic clergy, after telling police he was being sexually abused by priests.