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Roman Catholic Church In Switzerland Investigating Ten Cases Of Molestation

03/21/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Three monks at the Einsiedeln monastery in Eastern Switzerland have been accused of committing sexual acts against minors. In total, there are ten cases of abuse that have been reported. Of course, this amounts to one case per person for each of the investigators that the Vatican currently has on sex abuse cases. This would be fine if it were not for the fact that a total of one hundred twenty have come out of Pope Benedict’s old diocese in the last month.

According to the Vatican, there are three hundred active cases being investigated by a total of ten investigators. Except for one case, the others appear to have never been turned over to the police for investigation. According to Abbot Martin Werlen, “The victims or their representatives said expressly that they did not want” the cases turned over to the authorities. The Church has been accused of intimidating abuse victims and their families into remaining silent.

In the last six months, the issue of child molestation among priests has exploded across Europe. Cases have shown up in Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and now Switzerland. According to the Diocese of Chur in Eastern Switzerland, there were two cases that did occur back in the 1970′s, and that the monk involved was reassigned.

According to Christoph Casetti, a representative for the diocese, stated that these new allegations are not connected to the resignation of a parish priest earlier this year. The priest in that case resigned after admitting that he had molested a child forty years ago.

The diocese is currently reviewing just how many cases of child molestation have occurred within its boundaries in the last fifty years. In at least one case, the priest involved has since died.

Swiss Catholic Church investigating 10 abuse cases

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