Dutch bishops blamed for “organising” paedophiles

The Dutch Church has been dealt another blow: Prelate Philippe Bär, who has led the diocese of Rotterdam for ten years, has been accused of giving organisational support to a paedophile association
GIACOMO GALEAZZI
12/19/11

Bishop and leader of a “gang” of paedophiles: the prelate Philippe Bär (who headed the most important diocese in the Netherlands from 1983 and 1993) is suspected of offering organisational support to an association which intended to sexually abuse minors and to take part in such acts.

In 1993, the head of the diocese of Rotterdam suddenly left his post and retired to the Benedictine abbey of Chevetogne in Belgium. In the Netherlands, the Catholic Church is heading deeper into the storm. After the Irish drift, the Netherlands too is seeing a rise in the number of “unfaithful clerics”. First came the shocking conclusions of an independent commission on paedophilia (one out of five children who have come into contact with ecclesiastical institutions have been molested); now, the bishop emeritus of Rotterdam is being accused of sexual abuse. the rest

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