Feb 24, 2010 / 09:33 am
On Tuesday, the German Conference of Catholic Bishops began their plenary session. On the first day of meetings, president of the conference Archbishop Robert Zoellisch asked for public forgiveness regarding cases of child sexual abuse in the German Church.
Archbishop Zoellisch said he was "deeply upset" by the cases of the "repugnant crime" of pedophilia which took place in some Jesuit schools in Germany from the 70s to the 90s, L'Osservatore Romano (LOR) reported.
"I ask forgiveness in the name of the German Catholic Church of all the victims of this crime," he said in a press conference, pointing out that it is particularly grave as a violation of the special trust young people give to priests.
LOR added that the archbishop gave his assurance that cases of abuse would be reported for public prosecution, but also noted that many of the cases will have already passed the 10-year statute of limitations.