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Germany: Catholic priest convicted for abusing girls
A priest who abused children and adolescents over many years has been handed
a 12-year jail sentence by a Cologne court.
The archdiocese where he worked has denied any responsibility.
Deutsche-Welle
A court in the western German city of Cologne on Friday convicted a Catholic priest of sexually abusing children in cases spanning many years, sentencing him to 12 years in prison.
The priest was also ordered to pay three co-plaintiffs in the cases damages totaling €50,000 ($56,000).
The conviction comes as the German Catholic Church is under intense scrutiny after revelations of decades of sexual abuse of children and misconduct toward minors by church employees, including in the Cologne Archdiocese.
The church is seen by many to have abused its position of power by covering up abuse by priests
What was the priest convicted of?
The 70-year-old priest faced an original indictment alleging 118 cases of abuse, with the youngest victim a 9-year-old girl.
Other victims came forward over the course of the trial, which led to the charges being extended. The priest was also remanded in custody because the court saw a danger that he would reoffend.
One victim was a girl who complained of homesickness at a holiday camp and another a girl to whom he was supposedly giving anger therapy.
The priest forced his victims to engage in a number of sexual acts, including intercourse.
The Cologne Archdiocese came under criticism during the trial after it became apparent that the priest had repeatedly been allowed to be alone with children even though leading members were seemingly made aware of allegations and rumors surrounding his behavior.
An initial investigation into the allegations was shelved because the priest's nieces withdrew testimony against him. The archdiocese paid the priest's legal fees for that probe.
During the present trial, archdiocese officials denied any responsibility for the abuse.
"We have acted consistently," said Stefan Hesse, the archbishop of Hamburg and former head of personnel in Cologne, in his testimony.
Consistently badly. Will you declare your innocence when you stand before Jesus Christ?
Argentinian bishop sentenced to prison for sexual abuse
despite Pope’s defense
Gustavo Zanchetta convicted by court in a major blow to Pope Francis,
who had initially defended the bishop
Staff and agencies in Buenos Aires
Fri 4 Mar 2022 18.24 GMT
A court in Argentina has sentenced a Roman Catholic bishop to four and a half years in prison for sexual abuse of two former seminarians in a major blow to Pope Francis, who had initially defended the bishop.
Gustavo Zanchetta, 57, was convicted on Friday of “simple, continued and aggravated sexual abuse”, with his offense aggravated by his role as a religious minster.
A court in the north-western town of Orán, where Zanchetta, 57, was bishop from 2013 to 2017, ordered his immediate detention.
The conviction in the pope’s homeland hits at Francis’s personal credibility since he had initially rejected accusations against Zanchetta, and created a job for him at the Vatican that got him out of Argentina.
Francis has defended his handling of the case, insisting that Zanchetta “defended himself well” when confronted with the first allegations that he had pornographic images on his cellphone.
Francis also defended the decision to give him a job in one of the most sensitive Vatican offices, the treasury that manages the Holy See’s investments and assets, saying Zanchetta had been prescribed psychological retreats each month in Spain and it didn’t make sense for him to return to Argentina between each session.
Nice! Did his victims get prescribed psychological retreats in Spain? What an abomination of Catholic resources.
Following the verdict, the bishop, wearing a face mask, was removed from the court in a car, though it was not clear where he was taken.
Local authorities began to investigate after the allegations emerged publicly in early 2019, when the newspaper El Tribuno de Salta reported complaints about Zanchetta’s conduct as bishop in Orán, about 1,600km (900 miles) north-west of Buenos Aires.
Five priests made a formal accusation before church authorities against the bishop in 2016, accusing him of authoritarianism, financial mismanagement and sexual abuse at the Saint John XXIII Seminary.
Accused of financial mismanagement, so, Francis put him in charge of the Vatican's investments. That makes so much sense, eh, what?
The court heard evidence from two complainants, one of whom claimed the bishop had made approaches towards him and asked for “massages”.
Prosecutor María Soledad Filtrín Cuezzo told the court on Thursday that investigators had established the truthfulness of witnesses against the bishop, citing their internal logic, context and precise details.
Zanchetta had flown back to his home country from Rome to face the charges. He has denied the charges and said he is victim of revenge by priests in Orán with whom he had differences.
The pope had ordered a church trial into the case, though the results of that are not known.
Carlos Lombardi of the Network of Survivors of Ecclesiastical Abuse in Argentina – and a representative of victims in the case – said the sentence was “a strong blow” to the pope “because of the public defense he has made in this case …
they now have no arguments to protect these criminals in cassocks,” he added.
Portugal: Church sex abuse panel unearths more than 200 cases
The allegations, from people born between 1933 and 2006,
tell of psychological torment kept secret for decades
The commission, which has its own website and phone line, relies on alleged victims to come forward, but also on access to historic files from dioceses [File: Andrew Medichini/AP Photo]
Published On 10 Feb 2022
A commission investigating child sexual abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church has said more than 200 alleged victims had already been in touch to share their stories since its launch a month ago.
The abuse allegations have come from people born between 1933 and 2006, from various backgrounds, from every region of the country and also from Portuguese nationals living abroad.
Many of the 214 people who have shared their testimonies mentioned other children who might have been abused by the same person, the commission said in a statement on Thursday.
“The allegations reveal suffering … which, in some cases, has been hidden for decades,” the commission said. “For many, this is the first time they are breaking their silence.”
It started its work in early January after a major report by a commission in France revealed last year approximately 3,000 priests and religious officials sexually abused more than 200,000 children during the past 70 years.
It also followed pressure from prominent Portuguese Catholics to lift the veil of silence that had surrounded the issue.
Portuguese church officials said two years ago that authorities had investigated only about a dozen allegations of sexual abuse involving Portuguese priests since 2001. More than half of those cases were dropped because church investigators decided there was not enough evidence to pursue them.
The six-person commission is primarily funded by the Roman Catholic Church itself, but its head, child psychiatrist Pedro Strecht, has said he would be the first to walk out if the Church tried to intervene in the process.
The commission, which has its own website and phone line, relied on alleged victims to come forward, but also on access to historic files from dioceses. They hoped to present the report by the end of this year.
Because most statements were received online, the committee has stepped up its efforts to reach people in less developed areas of the country who may not be used to using technology.
It has recruited the help of charities, civic associations and parish councils, among others, to help get the word out.
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