Now it's Germany reporting in

German Catholic priests abused thousands of children

The usual protecting, enabling, and covering up.

The Catholic Church is a global criminal enterprise devoted to organized child abuse, rape, and porn.

A study commissioned by the German Bishops Conference examined 3,677 cases of abuse allegedly perpetrated by clergy nationwide, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Wednesday. 

The universities of Giessen, Heidelberg and Mannheim were involved in the research, which implicated 1,670 priests in sexual abuse spanning from 1946 to 2014.

The report comes amidst a resurfacing of abuse and cover-up allegations against the Catholic Church around the world.

. . . .

The victims in Germany were predominantly male and more than half of them were 13 years of age or younger. 

Every sixth case involved a rape, and in three-quarters of the cases, the victim and perpetrator knew each other through the church.

. . . .

More cases could exist, the study cautions, noting that the figures represent a conservative estimate. 

German newspaper Die Zeit reported that researchers were not allowed to look at original church files but relied on information provided by the dioceses.

In many cases, files containing information about the accusers were "destroyed or manipulated," contributing to the difficulty in assessing the extent of the abuse.

The study warned that there was no reason to believe that sexual abuse of minors by Catholic Church clergy was a thing of the past, as continued abuse was still occurring in 2014, the last year of the investigative period.

. . . .

German politicians called for transparency as the Catholic Church investigates the abuse, with some saying the cases must be examined in the German legal system, rather than handled internally.

About time somebody said it.

These people need to go to jail, though nobody yet seems to be saying in just exactly as many words what we all know.

There is a need for "credible measures to prevent repetition in the future," Lars Castellucci, the religious policy spokesman for the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), told the newspapers of the Funke Media Group.

Stefan Ruppert, an MP with the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP), said the church should "report perpetrators and if possible dismiss them." 

Both religious policy spokesmen fell short, however, of calling for a full independent investigation into the abuse.