Berlin: A news magazine reports that the
head of the German Bishops Conference admits the Roman
Catholic church consciously covered up cases of sexual abuse
by priests.
Weekly magazine Focus reported today that Archbishop
Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg, who also heads the Bishops
Conference, said that "sexual abuse was covered up for decades
by society."
He said while most cases happened outside the church
"assaults that took place in such numbers within our
institutions shame and frighten me."
He says "every single case darkens the face of the
entire church."
Yesterday, Zollitsch apologized personally for a
sexual abuse cover-up that happened twenty years ago in a
Black Forest community while he was in charge of human
resources at the Freiburg diocese.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 22:13