NETHERLANDS
The Tablet
15 April 2014
Roermond diocese in southern Holland has apologised for the sexual abuse of two boys by its former Bishop Johannes Gijsen, who served there from 1972 to 1993 and died last year.
The two cases were deemed well-founded by the commission investigating abuse claims in the Dutch Church and date back to the period 1958-1961, when Gijsen was a chaplain and teacher at a minor seminary.
The weekly Katholiek Nieuwsblad, which first reported the story, said the commission found Gijsen had improperly touched two boys and forced one to perform oral sex. He was confronted with the latter accusation in 2011 but denied knowing the accuser and sued him for defamation.
The case was closed at the time, but reopened a week after Gijsen died because the second victim had come forward. On review, the commission found his excuse was not credible because the victim’s family had said he used to visit them.
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