Germany, March 12: The head of Germany’s Roman Catholic Church has issued a new apology to victims of pedophile priests and announced the creation of a watchdog to deal with the abuse issue.
“I want to repeat here in Rome the apology that I made two weeks ago,” Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg told a news conference in the Vatican after meeting Pope Benedict XVI yesterday.
Zollitsch said the Pope had praised “the steps taken by the German Bishops Conference (including) the naming of a bishop as a special counsel” who would act as a watchdog on the issue of the sexual abuse of children.
Pedophile priest scandals have swept Germany since late January, one coming close to the Pontiff’s brother Georg Ratzinger, a former choirmaster.
On February 22, Zollitsch said he was “deeply shocked” by the scandals and asked for victims’ forgiveness.
“Sexual abuse of minors is always a heinous crime. I want to associate myself with this statement from Pope Benedict and apologise to all those who were a victim of such crimes,” he said then.
—Agencies