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    THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Thousands of children suffered sexual abuse in Dutch Catholic institutions, and church officials failed to adequately address the abuse or help the victims, according to a long-awaited investigation released Friday.

    The report by the an independent commission said Catholic officials failed to tackle the widespread abuse "to prevent scandals."

    Based on a survey among more than 34,000 people, the commission estimated that one in 10 Dutch children suffered some form of abuse. The number doubled to 20 percent of children who spent some of their youth in a Catholic institution.

    The commission said it received some 1,800 complaints of abuse at Catholic schools, seminaries and orphanages and that the institutions suffered from "a failure of oversight."

    The commission was set up last year under the leadership of former government minister Wim Deetman to investigate allegations of abuse dating from 1945.

    The investigation followed allegations of repeated incidents of abuse at one cloister that quickly spread to claims from Catholic institutions across the country, echoing similar scandals around the world.

    The Dutch branch of the Catholic church agreed last month to launch a compensation system that clears the way for victims of abuse by priests and other church workers to receive payments.

    The new compensation system has a scale starting at euro5,000 ($6,500) and rising to a maximum of euro100,000 ($130,000) depending on the nature of the abuse.

    According to the Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics, 29 percent of the Dutch population of 16 million identified themselves as Catholics in 2008, making it the largest religion in the country.

     

    44 comments

    • Kaare  •  Kamas, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Why so much in the rcc? No standard for the clergy?? it will be a praise to pay very soon.
    • weimarliberal  •  5 mths ago
      Any of your Catholic friends still apologising for this Paedophilia chain? Get rid of them! Don't let them aid and abet this monstrous criminality!
    • Anya  •  5 mths ago
      4 versions of the same article to dredge up hatred for the church. The author refuses to bring up the changes made by the church to correct these problems.
    • frederick  •  Shanghai, China  •  5 mths ago
      I am a Roman Catholic and do believe in Jesus Christ and I am His follower, I surrender to him my whole self after I repent from all of my sins... I do believed that he was forgiven me and He is now protecting me from falling again into sin; It is so peaceful and undescribable feeling of contentment for having Lord Jesus Christ as my redeemer, my savior, my life and my loving Father God...

      Whilst my comment for this issue; that the money is not enough as a payment for all the dignity that been broken by the worldly act of those officials in the church, but their dismissal as a member of the church and imprisonment... Surely the sin of one church member is not the sin of the other but because of trying to protect those church official from their sin is also a big mistake...

      I am a sinner and I am willing to take all the punishment as my cross that I should bear for all the mistakes that I have done and from that point i've learned my lesson and growing stronger my belief and faith to God who created me thru his only righteous son, my Lord Jesus Christ... I love God more than my self and I am living because of Him and I am so thankful and praise him all the time and swear I would do that for the rest of my time in this world... I am living with the love of Jesus Christ and would die for him; but He would be merciful to me and He will rose me from death and will live with Him in heaven forever... Amen!!!
    • Nonsoeli  •  Bangalore, India  •  5 mths ago
      We condemn the evil carried out by these people that abuse. However, it is always good to get our criticism straight, the Catholic Church has never in any place or time taught or encouraged such evils. We can be very sure that there are more abuses outside the Catholic Church that have not been reported, the Church is in the limelight because of her position on issues like same-sex marriage, abortion etc. In all standards, these people that abuse are a product of our corrupt society. No other institution has contributed so much as the Catholic Church to the world's development in the areas of education , morality etc, find out by yourself.
      • V 5 mths ago
        The Church is in the limelight for abusing the people who followed it, they are also in the limelight for doing nothing about it, until it was too late.
      • Horus was plagiarized 5 mths ago
        Wrong read "The Irish Gulag" so you can find out by yourself!!
    • Aaron  •  Traverse City, United States  •  5 mths ago
      When are they going to slap a RICO case on the catholic church? This a criminal organization that has covered up abuse for years. Moving pedophiles in order to escaped and kind of prosecution. You look and any order or society that severely limits or bans sex, you see a ton of deviant behavior.
    • OldPilot  •  5 mths ago
      The Holy Church has abused and murdered hundreds of thousands over the centuries but not to worry -- it's all in the name of God. A god who sent down the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill" and apparently added an unseen footnote : psst! If you're catholic, killing's OK.
      • Homer S. 5 mths ago
        you're old, probably as old as these priests, perhaps you're getting senile.
      • CeeCee 5 mths ago
        OldPilot, I agree.
    • Taurus  •  5 mths ago
      I am not a Catholic. It's not the religion (which does have some major flaws) that causes abuse-it's the clergy-whether they're in another country or here.
      • Homer S. 5 mths ago
        agree, each of us is responsible for our own actions.
      • weimarliberal 5 mths ago
        The sexual theology of the RC is totally f---ed!
    • Celador2  •  5 mths ago
      For shame!

      Time and time again we learn too late that teh Catholic Church harbored abusive behavior and covered it up. Hats off to the long awaited investigation by the Dutch on this nationwide abuse. 29% of the Dutch call themselves Catholic.

      Go to the police.
    • Wake up  •  Tucson, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Any religion is an effort to control others. Period.
      • Homer S. 5 mths ago
        you can only be controlled if you don't practice your faith with reason.
    • JB  •  New York, United States  •  5 mths ago
      The stricter the religion, the greater the hypocrisy. Why are we still surprised by this?
    • benzon  •  5 mths ago
      Philippines is the leading Catholic country in Asia. Some ( oftentimes) news about abuses of some kind come and go, like vanish from nowhere. Is there a cover up? Is there somebody brave enough willing to investigate?
    • Thought About It  •  5 mths ago
      Religion, same as any other thing that we are subject to that is proverted and ruined by man selfishness and greed. Blame God, instead of live by your commandments and make common sense.
    • Daughter O' Heaven  •  Reno, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Catholicism is a CULT- it puts' importance on any and every other beings to deflect from the importance of Christ.
      Perfection is NOT attainable! We come to Christ as we ARE- THIS is Christianity!
      The confession AFTER one sins' is NOT the answer! Sin hurts' your soul! The Lord says that He will cleanse you from ALL unrighteousness! So, why would you go to a man, when Christ promises' THIS as our High Priest? Pure deception on the part of this cult that started 600 years after Christ.
      These nuns just want to beat the devil out of kids, instead of show the Love and Nurtering of Christ. That shows that the Holy Spirit is not in Them, nor in the teachings they espouse, of man-made trappings and traditions to get TO God. God came down to MAN.
      DON"T forget- people were KILLED for teaching other stuff to men besides the tenants of THIS "religious" establishment that extort's money to get to heaven. Things have not changed. People are told that they will go to hell if they go to another evangelical church. The Catholics do not try to witness to others to get them to accept Jesus as their Savior now, do they? Just the Priests.
    • wakajawaka  •  Boise, United States  •  5 mths ago
      When God died back in the 60s, I knew the Catholic Church couldn't be far behind.
    • Rocketman1945  •  Boston, United States  •  5 mths ago
      What an amazing example of forced child prostitution. Abuse them when they are minors and pay them for it when they are adults. Anyone see a pattern here worldwide?
    • Kevin P  •  Warminster, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Not impressive. So a bunch of people said they were abused? Not actual evidnece, not a court proceeding just a survey and complaints? I'm not saying it doesn't happened but these numbers don't prove much of anything about how prevelent it is.
    • tariq tariq  •  Beijing, China  •  5 mths ago
      How in the world the supposed protectors (with higher morals )became the predator themselves ? It’s beyond me that HOW these kind of sexual abuses of innocents children are allowed to be going on forever ?
    • Yahoo IsCrap  •  5 mths ago
      Religion = a plague on human beings on planet earth
    • Buckethead  •  5 mths ago
      Why is this news. This is just another part of the Catholic church crumbling.
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