荷蘭時報

Dutch priests abused up to 20,000 children

  昨晚，一份期待已久、長達1100頁的報告震驚了荷蘭。報告證實，在1945年至1985年間，有超過800名天主教神父和修道士性侵了多達2萬名受他們照顧的兒童。

    由前教育部長維姆·迪特曼(Wim Deetman)擔任主席的迪特曼委員會(Deetman Commission)的報告也得出結論，認為性侵是普遍存在的，並指責宗教團體、教區甚至教會未能幫助受害者或對施虐者採取行動。

   報告稱，包括性侵在內的性侵行為發生在全國各地的寄宿學校、兒童之家和孤兒院，但教會當局從未公開承認，因為他們堅持“沉默文化”和“不把家醜外揚”的決心。

   迪特曼曾是基督教民主黨(Christian Democratic Party)主席，2010年3月這些指控浮出表面時，他就開始了調查。迪特曼表示，該委員會估計，受虐兒童的數量在2萬之內。 800多名施暴教牧的名字已經被公佈。其中105人仍健在，但迪特曼不清礎還有多少人仍在為教會工作。 他說，到目前為止，約有2000名受害者已主動提出正式申訴，其中1 800起案件涉及性強姦，在許多情況下可被定性為“非常嚴重”。

   迪特曼表示:“教會沒有採取任何措施防止醜聞發生。”“性侵也沒有得到承認，也沒有對受害者提供幫助、補償或善後照顧。教堂官員聲稱他們不知道發生了什麼事，根本站不住腳 在有爭議的教牧獨身問題上，該報告稱，儘管這不是性虐待的一個關鍵因素，但它是一個額外的風險因素，使牧師“更容易造成違法的傷害行為”。

    迪特曼在海牙的一個新聞發佈會上表示:“我們不認為，如果獨身是義務，那麼許多此類案件可能不會發生。” 在昨晚的一份簡短聲明中，荷蘭天主教主教會議(Catholic Bishops’Conference)表示，教會對該報告感到“震驚和羞恥”。 它還重申了荷蘭教會上個月首次提出的向受害者支付總計約500萬歐元的賠償的提議。罰款數額從不恰當的言論或行為收取約5000歐元，到最嚴重的性侵案件收取10萬歐元不等。

    然而，當時代表受害者的團體認為，這種補償措施不夠充分，他們指責教會企圖在昨天的報告之前先發制人。 昨晚，受害者組織Klokk表示，調查結果比他們預期的更令人震驚該組織尤其批評了天主教會在回應最初的指控和隨後的調查結果時的“消極態度”，並表示，這種態度讓人不太可能相信教會會做出任何改變。

     由司法部高級官員Rieke Samson-Geerlings領導的另一個委員會正在調查荷蘭社會服務機構在將兒童送入易受虐待的機構(有時是寄養家庭)中所扮演的角色。

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   THE NETHERLANDS was in shock last night after a long-awaited 1,100-page report confirmed that more than 800 Catholic priests and monks abused as many as 20,000 children in their care between 1945 and 1985. The report of the Deetman Commission, chaired by former education minister Wim Deetman, also concluded that knowledge of the abuse was widespread, and it accused religious orders, dioceses and even congregations of failing to help the victims or take action against the abusers. It said the abuse, which included sexual abuse, took place in boarding schools, children’s homes and orphanages across the country, but was never openly acknowledged by church authorities because of their “culture of silence” and determination “not to hang out their dirty washing”. On the controversial issue of celibacy, the report said that while this was not a critical element in the abuse, it was an additional risk factor that made priests “more vulnerable to transgressive behaviour”. Mr Deetman told a news conference in The Hague: “We do not consider it impossible that a number of these cases might not have happened if celibacy had been voluntary.” In a brief statement last night, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in the Netherlands said the church had been “shocked and shamed” by the report. It also reiterated an offer, first made by the Dutch church last month, to pay compensation totalling about €5 million to victims. This would range from about €5,000 for inappropriate remarks or behaviour, up to €100,000 for the most serious cases of sexual abuse. However, that compensation offer was described at the time as inadequate by groups representing victims – and they accused the church of a cynical attempt to pre-empt yesterday’s report. 。 The organisation criticised, in particular, “the passive attitude” of the Catholic Church in its response both to the original allegations and to the subsequent findings – and said that attitude gave grounds for little hope that anything in the church would change. A separate commission, led by a senior department of justice official, Rieke Samson-Geerlings, is investigating the role of the Dutch social services in placing children in institutions – and in some cases in foster homes – where they were open to abuse.