Covering the Catholic sex abuse cover-up

Radio Netherlands Worldwide ^ | 16 December 2011 | Robert Chesal

[Alex Murphy]

Roman Catholic bishops in the Netherlands protected sexual abusers and covered up their crimes, according to a major new report released today. The church-installed Deetman Commission says there were up to 20,000 victims of abuse between the end of World War II and 1981.

Radio Netherlands Worldwide journalist Robert Chesal brought to light the abuse that led to a national scandal. He looks back at how the story unfolded.

You could say that 2010 was the year when the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal went viral. Until February of that year, abuse of youngsters by Catholic clergy was primarily seen as a problem in Ireland and the United States.

German scandal
But that month, as northern Europe lay buried in snow, a simmering problem began to reach boiling point. Reports from a Catholic boarding school run by Jesuits in the German capital Berlin spoke first of a few, then of a dozen, and then of over a hundred victims of abuse by priests.

One of those reports reached me at the RNW newsroom in mid-February. That same day I read that Pope Benedict XVI had ordered the entire Irish bishops' conference to appear at the Vatican, where they would receive a dressing down for failing to tackle abuse in their dioceses. I decided to investigate what, if anything, had happened in the Netherlands.

Salesians
On the internet I quickly found a testimony by a man named Janne Geraets, now in his late 50s, who claimed to have been abused at a boarding school in the early 1960s. I arranged to meet him the following day and heard his story of the painful and deeply damaging abuse he suffered at the hands of a Salesian father.

As I walked to the bus stop after that interview, my head still filled with the disturbing images Geraets had described, I started thinking about where to look next.

Disturbing signs
I discovered that there were some worrying trends in the Netherlands which were as yet unreported in the mainstream media. For instance, a prominent Dutch jurist told me why he had stepped down as chairman of the assessment board of the Roman Catholic abuse hotline.

In fact, he said, the entire board had resigned because their recommendations on how to deal with known abusers in the church were repeatedly being ignored by the Dutch bishops.

I was confronted with another ominous sign when I rang up the Protestant counterpart to the Catholic hotline and was told that all cooperation between the Protestant and Catholic centres for abuse notification had ceased years earlier.

The representative I spoke to suspected the reason the partnership had broken down was that the Catholic side “had something to hide”. Another hotline employee lamented the fact that the Catholics showed no interest in a new protocol established by the Protestant abuse notification centre which the Protestants were more than willing to share.

Hotbed of abuse
Spurred on by Janne Geraets' insistence that he was just one of many children abused at his school, I enlisted the help of experienced investigative journalist Joep Dohmen at the NRC Handelsblad newspaper. Together, Dohmen and I pieced together a story that revealed the abuse of three minors by Salesians from the same boarding school.

We also brought to light the fact that one of the most respected bishops in the Netherlands, monsignor Ad van Luyn, had taught at that same school, in close proximity to what later appeared to be a hotbed of sexual abuse.

Our first publication on 26 February 2010, sparked an avalanche of abuse reports from former boarding school pupils throughout the Netherlands. The Catholic hotline was completely unable to handle the workload and within weeks the first steps were taken to create a commission of inquiry led by former government minister Wim Deetman.

Pope angers Europe
Meanwhile, it was rapidly becoming clear that the Catholic Church had a scandal of epidemic proportions on its hands in Europe. From Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria, shocking testimonies of abuse and allegations of church cover-ups were making headlines.

There was an angry reaction when Pope Benedict apologised to churchgoers in Ireland for decades of abuse that went unpunished. Why, the Germans and Dutch asked, should we be treated any differently from Irish victims?

The Vatican never gave a satisfactory answer to that question. On the contrary. A cardinal close to the pope called the scandal “petty gossip” and even some bishops who acknowledged wide-scale abuse blamed it on the freemasons, on homosexuality and on the loosening of society's sexual morals following the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s (a particularly odd fallacy, since so many cases of abuse stem from the 1950s and earlier).

On Good Friday, Pope Benedict's own preacher compared the incrimination of priests in the sex abuse scandal to past examples of persecution of Europe's Jews. Public relations are not exactly a strong point in Rome.

Simonis gaffe
The church in the Netherlands hardly made a better impression. The top Catholic figure here, Cardinal Simonis, left mouths agape when he denied that Dutch church leaders were aware of the wide-scale abuse by priests in their midst.

He chose a historically loaded phrase the Dutch normally use to mock feigned German ignorance of the Nazi concentration camps, saying “Wir haben es nicht gewusst”.

But Simonis' words sounded decidedly hollow when we reported, months later, that he had helped move a pedophile priest from one parish to another, allowing abuse of minors to continue.

Long-term damage
Incidents like these are among the many disconcerting facts that the Deetman Commission had to grapple with in its inquiry. Of the estimated 10,000 to 20,000 victims in institutional care between 1945 and the early 1980s, approximately half were repeatedly subjected to sexual abuse for longer than a year, the commission says.

Personal accounts reveal that the physical and psychological damage caused by such extended periods of victimisation is immense and long-lasting.

The commission singled out Roman Catholic boarding schools, orphanages, seminaries and other institutions, reporting that children there ran a greater risk of being abused. The inquiry blasted the institutions' failure to monitor the well-being of minors in their care.

In a first reaction to the 1,200-page Deetman report, Bishop Gerard de Korte said the church leadership had made wrong choices by protecting abusive priests and putting the reputation of the church before the well-being of victims. It's unlikely to be the last word we hear from the bishops on that sensitive point.

Justice a step closer
Along with many other journalists, I crowded into a meeting room in the Dutch political capital The Hague this morning for the official presentation of the report. Afterwards, colleagues asked me if this was a crowning moment in my career. I had to think about that. And my answer was no. Because I did not become a journalist to hold the Roman Catholic Church accountable for sexual abuse.

I did, however, become a journalist out of some kind of desire for justice and truth. And in that sense, I would have to conclude that with the Deetman Commission report, we've gotten one step closer to that goal.

[RobbyS]

So many of these perps have been told to believe, with the likes of Father Kueng, that Catholicism is a myth. At least the Catholicism in which they were raised. If you are a priest whose faith is unreal, then you feel yourselves caught up in a lie. The hypocrite is so often an angry. frustrated man, and he will want to share his sense of frustration by inflicting abuse on others.

[count-your-change]

Slow down, Vladi, I don't want to wipe the inside of my screen off.

I can't read the minds of these writers and so comment on what they might say, I'm left with reading what they actually did say.
The book I quoted wasn't written by Sipe, he wrote but that one chapter. Maybe that didn't show on Amazon's preview..I don't know.

Anyway accusations of false claims, lies, intellectual dishonesty, and so forth won't change the facts.
And the facts are that the councils, the edicts, canon laws and punishments promised were not enforced and the abuse then as now WAS tolerated. That's why it existed!

If it's any comfort, we see it's not just a U.S. problem.

[7MMmag]

Thank you for the info. I've perused that site before, but it has been while. Not something I'd go looking at, other than in when it's mentioned --- then claimed to be all wrong.

Things did work as you suggested. Went straight to the brief history page. It buttresses your comments here, regardless of the fierce denials.

[count-your-change]

If I find an interesting site I like to share it. As you can see Doyle is no hack, he’s a Dominican priest and is considered an expert on clerical abuse problems.

[veritas2002]

a highly developed reply

[vladimir998]

You wrote:

“I can’t read the minds of these writers and so comment on what they might say, I’m left with reading what they actually did say.”

And yet you apparently couldn’t find anything from the three of them to back up your assertion of a millenium of “toleration”. Apparently you CAN’T read only what they actually said.

“The book I quoted wasn’t written by Sipe, he wrote but that one chapter. Maybe that didn’t show on Amazon’s preview..I don’t know.”

It was clear to me that Sipe - just as I mentioned in my comments - wrote only one article for the book. Remember, I said, “If you actually even read his article in the book - and it isn’t a very good article to begin with because you get the impression that Sipe is just phoning it in - it is clear on page 66...”

So, you’re relying on an Amazon preview and passing off snippets of writing as if you read the whole article and actually know something? How sad. Does that strike you as honest?

“Anyway accusations of false claims, lies, intellectual dishonesty, and so forth won’t change the facts.”

When will you start presenting facts to actually bolster your claim? You have yet to present a single one.

“And the facts are that the councils, the edicts, canon laws and punishments promised were not enforced and the abuse then as now WAS tolerated. That’s why it existed!”

No, actually decrees were enforced, and that’s why we know of clerics who were punished. There was no millenium of toleration. Also, Church councils and canons tend to see sexual sins of any type as just about the most horrifying because they knew how dangerous they were to the proper conduct of clergy. You have failed - failed like so many Protestants here always do - to provide even a single scrap of information for your baseless assertion. Two of the works you cited even contradicted your claim. What a pathetic showing. How typically Protestant.

“If it’s any comfort, we see it’s not just a U.S. problem.”

If it’s any use to your knowledge, we know it’s not just a Catholic problem. The point is that Catholics don’t lie about the problem among Protestants. I wish Protestants wouldn’t lie about the problem among Catholics. Many Protestants, however, don’t know how to be honest apparently.

[Alex Murphy]

The point is that Catholics don’t lie about the problem among Protestants. I wish Protestants wouldn’t lie about the problem among Catholics.

....I found the National Catholic Register website where a letter of apology was printed by a woman who forwarded the same article that appeared in the Chronicle. It is entitled: “A Correction and an Apology” by Danielle Bean. She states: “But I should have dug a little deeper and looked more closely at some of the other parts of the speech. The rest of the speech, in which Mr. Miller relies heavily upon statistics found in an article from Sojourners magazine, cites an erroneous statistic of “10 percent of Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia.” “This statistic was later corrected by Sojourners, but it had already been picked up by Miller and others...."

....Philip Jenkins responds... ‘I regret to say that the statement is baloney. I never said it, and it’s not true!... Every time this 10 percent statement appears attributed to me, I try to debunk it, but these things have a life of their own. I have no idea what the actual proportion of pedophile protestant clergy is, but I would be amazed if it was more than a fraction of one percent.’

....“Regrettably, a much condensed version of Miller’s speech, as referenced on your blog, has recently gone viral within the Catholic community by way of the Internet and email. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of blogs, forums, Facebook pages, and news services that have posted this condensed version of Mr. Miller’s speech. It truly saddens me that such ‘false witness’ can be so uncritically accepted and further disseminated by so many within the Catholic community. It seems that we still find it easier to believe the worst about our neighbor rather than dig a little deeper for the truth.”
-- from the thread Letter about Catholics wrong about Protestants [re claim 10% of Protestant clergy are sex abusers]

[count-your-change]

It’s all an evil conspiracy, isn’t it? Catholic “saints” and experts have joined hands with Protestant historians to make paedphile and homosexual priests look bad and they’re all lying, right?

[Alex Murphy]

It’s all an evil conspiracy, isn’t it? Catholic “saints” and experts have joined hands with Protestant historians to make paedphile and homosexual priests look bad and they’re all lying, right?

"Oh my God, that makes so much sense!"

[count-your-change]

Perfect!

[count-your-change]

Yesterday the Catholic church in the Netherlands apologized for abuse done to thousands of children in their care.

More millstones are needed.

[vladimir998]

A mistake is not a lie. Protestants lie about this among Catholics: the numbers, the causes, the history, etc. Catholics simply don’t do that.

[vladimir998]

You wrote:

“It’s all an evil conspiracy, isn’t it?”

No, it’s just Protestant anti-Catholicism. It naturally breeds liars and lies. Newman noted this about 150 years ago. He wasn’t wrong.

“Catholic “saints” and experts have joined hands with Protestant historians to make paedphile and homosexual priests look bad and they’re all lying, right?”

No, they just aren’t saying what you are claiming. They were honest.

[vladimir998]

You wrote:

“How did it start?”

With protestantism.

“What does it look like?”

Protestantism.

“How should it be stamped out?”

With truth and grace.

“Who does the stamping?”

God, angels and men.

[count-your-change]

All the canons and threats of punishment dire didn't stop the latest round of abuse by the clerics. And it didn't stop the abuse the past thousand years. That is what the sources cited said despite your contrary wise invective.

It is not the lack of rules and threats but the lack of leadership as has been documented far too many ways to repeat here, that is the problem.
That might be difficult to understand but yesterday the apology given those thousands of children abused while under the care of the Catholic church makes the point quite well.

Call it Protestant lies and anti-Catholism but who are the liars and anti-Catholics?

Those bishops and fellow clerics who covered up and protected the guilty and thus allowed them to do irreparable harm to both their victims and the spirit of sincere Catholics...OR

Those who exposed it and demanded punishment? Whose conspiracy?

“No, it’s just Protestant anti-Catholicism. It naturally breeds liars and lies. Newman noted this about 150 years ago. He wasn’t wrong.”

Sounds like Tony Soprano, “There is no mafia!!!”

[vladimir998]

You wrote:

“All the canons and threats of punishment dire didn’t stop the latest round of abuse by the clerics.”

Did the Ten Commandments stop people from sinning?

“And it didn’t stop the abuse the past thousand years. That is what the sources cited said despite your contrary wise invective.”

So, we’re back to Protestant dishonesty again? You said there was a millenium of toleration of sex abuse did you not? Nothing you cited said that. Nothing at all.

“It is not the lack of rules and threats but the lack of leadership as has been documented far too many ways to repeat here, that is the problem.”

What is the problem is that you were completely wrong - there was no millenium of toleration. None.

“That might be difficult to understand but yesterday the apology given those thousands of children abused while under the care of the Catholic church makes the point quite well.”

No, actually it doesn’t make any point in your favor at all. Remember, you claimed there was a millenium of toleration. Where is your evidence? You have none.

“Call it Protestant lies and anti-Catholism but who are the liars and anti-Catholics?”

Well, how about the person who made a baseless claim about a millenium of toleration of abuse, contradicted his own sources and now seems to be trying to get away from his own claim?

“Those bishops and fellow clerics who covered up and protected the guilty and thus allowed them to do irreparable harm to both their victims and the spirit of sincere Catholics...OR”

Remember, you claimed there was a millenium of toleration. Where is your evidence? Trying to change the topic is not going to help you. Time to put up or shut up. You’ll fail of course.

“Those who exposed it and demanded punishment? Whose conspiracy?”

Again, where is the proof for your claim? You have none.

“Sounds like Tony Soprano, “There is no mafia!!!””

But is someone wants to see that what I said is true all they have to do is look at your posts which are devoid of evidence of your false claim of a millenium of toleration of abuse. It’s a falsehood. And - since you’re a Protestant - you’ll probably keep saying it anyway.

[Judith Anne]

Kinda like the 200 million killed by the Inquisition.

[vladimir998]

Judith Anne,

I think it is worst than that! Ignorant people make mistakes all the time, but I think anti-Catholics have no regard for truth. They lie, I think they know it, and they still do it.

[Judith Anne]

I think you are correct.

[Alex Murphy]

“Who does the stamping?”
God, angels and men.

"What does the stamping sound like?"
Like jackboots on Protestant necks.