Pope's letter disappoints Dutch abuse victims

Monday 22 March 2010

Pope Benedict's letter to Irish Catholics apologising for the sexual abuse scandal has been greeted with disappointment by Dutch victims, the NRC reports.

In the letter, the pope apologised to the people of Ireland and to thousands of victims of sexual abuse in past decades by Roman Catholic priests there.

And he criticised Irish bishops for 'grave errors of judgement' in dealing with the problem.

But the pope did not mention any sanctions against the bishops, and said simply that those who are guilty will have to answer to god for their crimes.

Dutch victims

'I do not think someone who has abused children has any place left in the church,' said Henri Looymans, who was abused by members of a religious order as a nine-year-old boy.

'This pope is no reformer and I did not expect any more than this from him,' he said.

'What I miss is any reference to whether the church itself is responsible... and what measures have been taken to limit the risks,' said Peter Dijcks, who was abused as a small child at an institute for the blind run by monks.

Government role

Meanwhile, caretaker minister for children André Rouvoet said he did not plan to order an inquiry into the role of child protection services in sending children to Catholic-run institutions.

According to RTL news, a number of Dutch victims had been placed in the boarding schools and seminaries by the social services.

Rouvoet said he first wanted to wait for the outcome of a report into the abuse claims set up by Catholic bishops themselves.

© DutchNews.nl

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