Criticism of sexual abuse inquiry in Dutch Church

Deetman emotional at criticism of research into abuse in the church

Wim Deetman of the inquiry into sexual abuse in the church became nearly emotional following the criticism of his report.

Journalist Joep Dohmen published last month a story about castrations of minors on the authority of the church.

 
Padua House in Boekel, one of the scenes of crime.

 

Boys were in the fifties of the last century, castrated by order of the Roman Catholic Church. After publication, there was criticism of the Deetman Report , because he left out stories of castrations in his report. Deetman said on Wednesday that there was no basis for such criticism.. "I challenge anyone to prove otherwise." Castration was in the fifties in some cases seen as acceptable . It went mostly done to adults and not children. Because the study of Deetman focused on children in the report he had not paid attention to the castrations. According to Deetman, castrations are a medical matter and requires researchers with different expertise and a different research method.

Doubts about integrity

The committee needed more time to think about the work as it made them uncomfortable (Cathcon- best translation here of proverb). Doubts about his integrity makes it difficult to follow the Deetman research. Cathcon - up to this point in time, the Dutch inquiry was the most credible of all the church-supported national inquiries, especially compared to the sheer farce that reigned to the south in Belgium. Was this news just too horrible to release into the public arena?

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