German Catholic priest to be probed over sex abuse
June 2nd, 2010 - 10:17 pm ICT by IANSBerlin, June 2 (DPA) The head of the German Catholic church, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, is to be investigated over claims that he aided and abetted the sexual abuse of children, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Zollitsch, who is Archbishop of Freiburg and the Chairman of the German Episcopal Conference, is accused of knowingly assigning church duties in 1987 to a priest that had abused children.
The state prosecutor in Freiburg, in the south of Germany, made a statement Wednesday reacting to earlier media reports surrounding Zollitsch’s conduct, who at that time was responsible for personnel in the diocese.
The case surrounds alleged abuse by a priest that served at the Birnau monastery on Lake Constance.
Sexual abuse scandals have rocked the church in Germany since January, when dozens of cases emerged involving sexual molestation of minors by priests and other clergy over a period of 50 years at church-run schools.
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Tags: berlin, catholic priest, clergy, dozens, episcopal conference, freiburg, german catholic church, lake constance, monastery, priests, prosecutors, scandals, sex abuse, sexual abuse, sexual molestation, south of germany, state prosecutor