Four priests and two nuns in the Regensburg diocese are under investigation for sexual abuse allegations, the diocese said, as a wider picture begins to emerge of incidents decades ago in Pope Benedict XVI’s native Bavaria.
Diocese spokesman Clemens Neck said on Monday that since allegations first surfaced earlier this month, the church has been pursuing the cases with the goals of achieving justice and help for the victims, punishing the offenders and preventing future crimes.
“The work of the last 14 days has shown us that serious wrongdoing was committed by spiritual leaders and members of the church,” Neck said at a press conference called to provide an update on the investigation. “We deeply regret what the spiritual leaders and church members did to these children and youths, and we ask for forgiveness on their behalf.”
In addition to the six now under investigation, about whom further details were not given, Neck said there were two new charges of sexual abuse of a minor by a man identified as “Friedrich Z,” who was already convicted of abuse charges in 1958, and one new charge against a “Georg Z,” who was convicted in 1969.
The Regensburg cases come among a spiraling child abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church in Germany, in which some 300 former students have come forward with claims of physical or sexual abuse.
Members of a US-based group arrived in Munich on Monday to encourage more victims in Germany to come forward.
“We want to reach out to any others who have been hurt. We ask them to speak out,” said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Abuse scandals involving Catholic dioceses, monasteries and other institutions have also hit several other countries, with victims in Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy all coming forward recently with allegations of abuse, as well as cover-ups.
Blaine said she hoped that her group, which has some 9,000 members in the US, would be able to found a chapter in Germany and other European nations to help victims and pressure the church to report offending priests.
“It is the silence and secrecy that allows the abuse to go on,” said Blaine, who along with several other abuse victims from the US set up photographs of themselves as children outside of the offices of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.
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