Update 08:30  Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Catholic church in Switzerland is dealing with its own crisis of pedophile priests, in the wake of revelations in Germany: Saturday a commission of experts for the Swiss Bishops Conference (SBC) announced that it is examining nine cases of possible sexual abuse.

The group’s president, Monsignor Norbert Brunner, said in an interview that appeared in the Sunday edition of Le Matin that he believes the system the church has in place for dealing with sexual abuse and pedophile priests, put in place in 2002, is adequate. He cites the recent directive sent to the Irish Catholic church by Pope Benoit XVI as a sign the Swiss approach is correct.

The pope’s apology to the church in Ireland over the weekend appears to have met with mixed reactions, with the New York Times reporting anger, but the Irish Times saying there was a small number of protests, and its main story Monday is about Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin called for investigations into sexual abuse to be extended.

Abbot Martin Werlen at the Einsiedeln Abbey near Zurich spoke out Friday for changes in the Swiss church’s approach. He called in particular for the church to create an international register of priests who have been charged with sexual abuse, which would be available to bishops when priests are moved from one diocese to another. Werlen announced Friday that the abbey had nine cases of sexual abuse against students in the 1970s. Another case was announced separately of a monk at the Disentis school abusing a student some years ago.

Links to other sites: Catholink (Fre), Le Matin interview with Adrian von Kaenel, lay president of SBC commission(Fre), Le Temps (Fre), NZZ (Ger), swissinfo

Posted by Ellen Wallace on 22 March 2010 at 8:17 | permalink
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News story, GenevaLunch, 22 March 2010.

Filed under: Society

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  1. walt Says:

    An international registry of pedophile priests is a good start to resolving the problem. However, without mandatory therapy and mandatory re-assignment to areas of ministry without contact with children a registry will only be as useful as the bishops who have access to it.

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