Angela Merkel - German chancellor Becomes First World Leader To Speak Out On Child Sexual Abuse

Germany and Ireland call on Catholic church to hold child sex abuse inquiries – by Riazat Butt, and Kate Connolly in Berlin – guardian.co.uk

Angela Merkel becomes most senior politician to speak out over abuse by priests as pope to release pastoral letter on subject

The crisis gripping the Catholic church deepened today, with calls for national inquiries to be held in Germany and Ireland to fully disclose the detail and extent of sexual abuse by priests. Photo 

With hundreds of allegations surfacing in Germany since the start of the year, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the scandal of abuse in the country's churches and schools posed a "major challenge" that could only be resolved through a full and frank inquiry into all cases.

Addressing the Bundestag in her first public statement on the subject, she called the sexual abuse of minors a "despicable crime". She added: "The only way for our society to come to terms with it is to look for the truth and find out everything that has happened."

She warned, however, that "the damage suffered by the victims can never fully be repaired". Her remarks, the most outspoken to have come from a head of government on the issue, came on the eve of a pastoral letter from the pope. Read more – by Riazat Butt, and Kate Connolly in Berlin – guardian.co.uk 

Related links:

Merkel calls for efforts to shed more light on child abuse - Editor: Susan Houlton – Deutsche Welle – Read more 

Church sex abuse scandal scars Europe - BY CAROL MARIN Chicago Sun-Times – Read more

Vatican watcher warns of 'nightmare scenario' if sex scandal widens – By Peter O'Neil, Europe Correspondent, Canwest News Service - Montreal Gazette  - Read more

This about the reckless endangerment of children in a calculated, purposeful strategy to protect the institutional Church - By Jason Walsh – December 2, 2009 - The Christian Science Monitor – Read more 

Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation, Dr. Gregory Herek, University of California at Davis & Yale University & City University of New York – Read more

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