Catholic Church’s Klasnic pick causes a stir

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Christoph Cardinal Schönborn’s announcement that Waltraud Klasnic will head a commission dealing with victims of Catholic Church abuse and violence has been met with harsh criticism.Schönborn said in a TV interview on Sunday that the former Styrian People’s Party (ÖVP) governor will head a special commission checking on all claims and reports of sexual abuse […]

Hundreds of cases of clerical abuse reported

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There have been 566 reports of various kinds of abuse by clergy at the Catholic Church’s ombudsman’s offices this year, it was reported today (Tues).Vienna archdiocese has had the highest number, 174, followed by Innsbruck diocese with 115. More than half of them can no longer be prosecuted because of the statute of limitations.Cases of […]

Klasnic to head church abuse victims commission

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A commission to investigate claims of sexual abuse within the Catholic church has named former Styrian People’s Party (ÖVP) Governor Waltraud Klasnic as its head.Viennese archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn told national broadcaster ORF yesterday (Sun) he will meet Klasnic to discuss details next week.Schönborn stressed that the commission will act totally independently to clarify as […]

Parish wants sex abuse priest back

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Parishioners have called for the return of a priest, suspended for sexually abusing a 17-year-old boy.Ernest Theußl, chairman of the town council in the priest’s parish of Deutschlandsberg, Styria said no one could complain about the priest, who was punished 12 years ago for sexual abuse of the boy but had admitted his guilt.Theußl said: […]

Church rejects blackmail bid

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The Roman Catholic Graz-Seckau diocese has today (Weds) revealed how a former victim of sexual abuse by priests tried to blackmail them for one million Euros.The dioceses made the statement when it confirmed reports about a case of sexual abuse of boys by a priest in the 1970s as reported by the newspaper Kleine Zeitung.The […]

Vienna archdiocese has child abuse ombudsman

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The Roman Catholic Vienna archdiocese has had an ombudsmen for sexual abuse of children since 1996, it revealed today (Weds).Erich Leitenberger, the press spokesman for the Vienna archdiocese, said psychotherapist and psychiatrist Johannes Wancata was the current ombudsman.Wancata said: “We are at the victims’ disposal. We take every suspicion seriously and are prepared to follow […]