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Dutch bishops demand clarity and truth regarding abuse cases


St John's Cathedral

St John's Cathedral

A Dutch newspaper, the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant, (NRC) has published a list of names of 20 bishops and two cardinals allegedly involved in covering up clerical sex abuse or abusing minors. But in a statement, the Catholic Church in the Netherlands say that the cases in question have already been dealt with in the past thanks to investigations commissioned by the Church itself. The Dutch Catholic Church said it has committed itself to the fight against clerical sex abuse for years and has taken strict measures to ensure that the crime is not repeated.

In the article, the NRC names twenty Bishops and two Cardinals accused of having covered up abuses in the country over the course of 65 years, between 1945 and 2010. Four of the accused clerics have since died.

The Dutch Catholic Church say most of the information the newspaper published had already been made public in 2011. On the basis of this investigation the Dutch Church launched measures in 2011 to prevent and combat abuse. In 2014 a very strict Code of Conduct was adopted, and it was renewed in 2018 with an even stricter obligation to report suspicion of sexual abuse of a minor to the police, even in the case of "semblance of truth".

Daphne van Roosendaal, spokesperson for the Dutch Bishops' Conference, reiterated that the news was not new and, in her view, was published because of the released of the Pennsylvania report. She said the list of names must be verified and explained that int he light of the new Code of Conduct, it is now practically impossible to perpetrate certain abuses. She concluded expressing the conviction that it is important for the Church that truth is known and that light be shed on everything that has happened, and it is important for the victims that the truth be pursued.

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