Pope Benedict XVI’s former diocese in Munich says it is facing new allegations of physical and sexual abuse on a daily basis.
Elke Huemmeler, head of the diocese’s newly founded sexual abuse prevention task force, says “it is like a tsunami.”
Ms. Huemmeler estimates there are about 120 cases on the record to date, around 100 of them at the nearby Ettal monastery boarding school, run by Benedictine monks. She stresses, however, her role is not to deal with the old cases, but help set up the prevention programme.
On Friday, her new Task Force on Sexual Abuse Prevention, now officially commissioned and backed by Archbishop Reinhard Marx, began its work.
By November, it plans to put forth a comprehensive plan to fight abuse in Roman Catholic church institutions.
