'Tens of thousands' of children victims of child sexual abuse at the hands of paedophile priests in the Netherlands since 1945



Tens of thousands of children have been victims of sexual abuse by the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands since 1945, an independent commission said today.

Slamming what it described as a cover-up and culture of silence, the commission estimated 10,000 to 20,000 youngsters were sexually abused while in the care of Catholic institutions.

The abuses, which ranged from the very mild to the serious, including rape, happened to children living at orphanages, boarding schools and seminaries between 1945 and 1981.

In the shadows: A commission has reported that tens of thousands of children were sexually abused while in the care of the Catholic church in the Netherlands and accused religious orders of trying to cover up abuses

After 1981 there were few church-run homes for youths, but it said sexual abuse was no more prevalent in Catholic institutions than in similar ones run by other groups.

'Sexual abuse of minors is widespread in Dutch society,' the commission said.

Nevertheless, abuse by Catholic priests, laymen and laywomen was systematically covered up by the church to protect its reputation, the commission said.

In dealing with the problem, it added, the church was guilty of 'inadequate supervision' and 'inadequate action'.

The investigation was commissioned by the Conference of Bishops and the Dutch Religious Conference in 2010 after cases surfaced involving paedophile priests in the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Canada and the U.S.

The findings appear to paint a picture of wider abuse in the Netherlands even than in Ireland, where revelations about apparent church cover-ups prompted the prime minister, Enda Kelly, to launch a scathing attack on the Vatican in the country's parliament.

The still-unfolding paedophile scandal has rocked the Catholic Church in Europe and the America and forced Pope Benedict to apologise to victims of sexual abuse by priests.

Apology: Pope Benedict XVI has been forced to apologise to victims of abuse after the scandal spread across Europe and the U.S.

Wim Deetman, a Protestant former education minister and former mayor of The Hague who led the commission, admonished the religious orders involved for not stopping the abuses.

'The idea that people did not know it and administrators did not know it cannot be maintained,' he said.

The report criticised the church for protecting paedophile priests as it tried to put the reputation of the church above care and concern for the victims.

Most of the cases involved mild to moderate abuse, such as touching, but it said that it estimated there were 'several thousand' instances of rape.

Guido Klabbers, from the KLOKK lobby group of child abuse victims, told public broadcaster NOS: 'Everyone can be shocked that this history has come in this magnitude. Everyone can be taken aback that the Church has lied about this and covered it up.'