The Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Europe has affected several dioceses in European nations. This article summarises reported cases of sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy and representatives of the Catholic Church by country and diocese.
Italy is an exceptional case as the 1929 Lateran Treaty gave the Vatican legal autonomy from Italy, giving the clergy recourse to Vatican rather than Italian law.
It has been reported that, ever since Pope Francis was elected pope, the Vatican gradually increased its efforts to deal with clerical sexual abuse. For example, in 2019, it discontinued the application of "pontifical secrecy" to sex abuse legal proceedings; this measure affects all countries.Hannah Brockhaus, "Pope Francis lifts pontifical secret from legal proceedings of abuse trials of clerics" , Catholic News Agency, 17 December 2019
Austria
Archdiocese of Vienna In 1995, Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër stepped down as head of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria following accusations of sexual misconduct. In 1998, he left the country. He remained a cardinal.
Diocese of Sankt Pölten
Bishop Kurt Krenn resigned from his post in 2004 after there was a scandal concerning child pornography allegedly being downloaded by a student at the seminary. Up to 40,000 photos and an undisclosed number of films, including child pornography, were found on the computer of one of the seminarians, but Krenn earlier angered many by calling the images a "childish prank".
Kremsmuenster Abbey In March 2010, several monks were suspended at Kremsmunster Abbey, located in the Upper Austria city of Kremsmunster, for severe allegations of sexual abuse and physical violence. The reported incidents ranged over a period from the 1970s until the late 1990s and had been subject to police investigation.Austria: Clergy sex abusers fired , News24.com, 11 March 2010 In July 2013 an Austrian court found Kremsmuenster Abbey director Alfons Mandorfer guilty in 24 documented cases of child abuse and sexual violence.Defrocked priest guilty of sexually abusing boys , USA Today, 3 July 2013 The now laicized priest, who was accused of committing "sexual acts of differing intensity" on the pupils between 1973 and 1993, was sentenced to twelve years in prison. By 2013, the school had paid approximately €700,000 in compensation.
Belgium Abuse affairs have affected several Belgian dioceses, which were hurt by allegations of abuse similar to those found in other Western countries. In response to this, an independent commission was established by the Belgian Episcopal Conference in 2000 under the presidency of Godelieve Halsberghe, a retired magistrate. A total of more than 300 complaints were made to the commission. The commission ultimately dealt with 33 formal complaints. 32 complaints were upheld by the commission, 1 was ruled false. Of these, only 1 case came before a court, because the facts of the other 31 cases were concerned with statutes of limitation. In about half of the 32 cases, the alleged abusers, clerics and religious, refused to appear before the commission, due to a lack of cooperation from the Belgian episcopate in forcing hierarchical obeyance to do so. The president and numerous commission members resigned from the commission as a result.
A second Independent Commission was established in 2009 under the presidency of psychiatrist Peter Adriaenssens.De Standaard, 17–18 April 2010 He resigned his commission in the aftermath of the large-scale police raid on 24 June 2010. Judicial police searched the archbishopric palace in Mechelen whilst the Belgian episcopal conference was officially meeting. Further searches were conducted at the archbishopric cathedral of Mechelen, the private residence of former archbishop Godfried Danneels in Mechelen and the offices of the independent commission in Leuven. 450 internal dossiers were confiscated.
Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels Former parish priest André Vanderlyn of Saint-Gillis parish in Brussels was arrested 20 June 1997 on charges of rape of a minor. He later confessed to seven rape cases between 1968 and 1997. On 18 December 2008, former parish priest Robert Borremans was sentenced to five years in prison for sexual abuse of a six-year-old boy from 1994 until 2001. His sentence was uphold in the Brussels court of appeal in April 2010. As a consequence, he will be laicised. He had previously been convicted for indecent exposure. He presided over the marriage Mass of Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium and his wife Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz.De Standaard, 17–18 April 2010
Diocese of Antwerp
8 April 1999, former parish priest Joris Horvath was beaten to death on the street by Wim C. After a police investigation it was revealed that Wim C. had been sexually abused by the dead priest as a child. Wim C. was shot & wounded in the shoulder by the Special Forces of the police during the incident. Former parish priest Bruno Vos of the Onze Lieve Vrouw ten Hemel Opgenomen Nieuwmoer-parish in Kalmthout was officially charged with rape of four minors by the Belgian judiciary. There are also allegations of possession of child pornography included in the charge. The Antwerp court of appeal sentenced him to nine years imprisonment in April 2009. Former Sint-Filippus-parish in Schoten parish priest Jef Van den Ouweland was convicted in 2003 for the rape of three boys, who were abused since 1982.
Diocese of Bruges On 14 November 2005, former religious brother Luc D. of the Congregation of the Fratres Van Dale was sentenced by a Belgian court to 10 years imprisonment for sexual abuse of 20 mentally handicapped persons over a period of 16 years.Katholiek Nederland, 14 November 2005 On 14 November 2005, former religious brother Roger H. of the Congregation of the Fratres Van Dale was sentenced by a Belgian court to 10 years imprisonment for sexual abuse of mentally handicapped persons. In April 2010, Bishop Roger Vangheluwe resigned after admitting to the sexual abuse of a boy during his career as a priest and his early years as a bishop. Father Marc Vangheluwe resigned his post as deacon for the parish community of Ieper-Sint-Elooi and teacher in a school for handicapped children in May 2010 following the media backlash concerning paedophilia. He was convicted in a criminal court for the rape of a minor during the eighties, but could continue his activities as a teacher and pastoral worker.
Diocese of Ghent In 1881, the Brothers of our Lady of Lourdes were confronted with a first scandal. One brother was sent to jail. In the 1960s a new scandal erupted in the same institute. Former parish priest Leo A. of Sint-Martinus parish at Bavegem was convicted to seven years imprisonment for raping minor choir boys.Dauphiné Libéré, 18 December 1996Dauphiné Libéré, 13 May 1997
Diocese of Hasselt On 27 November 2009, parish priest Bart Aben of Overpelt parish in Limburg was arrested by the police on accusations of rape and sexual abuse of two children, one male and one female, in his previous parish, Bocholt over a long period of time, from 1991 until 2008. He confessed his abuse to his bishop, Mgr. Patrick Hoogmartens and the police.
Diocese of Liège On 25 September 1992, parish priest Louis Dupont of Kinkempois parish near Liège was convicted to three years imprisonment and five years in case of repetition by a Belgian court for the rape of a minor girl and boy in 1990.Wittecomitesblancs.be p. 9
Diocese of Namur On 25 October 2000, former parish priest André Louis of Ottré parish near Namur was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for the rape of 26 children over a long period of time.Le Monde, 29 December 1997 Former parish priest Gilbert Hubermont of a Greater-Namur parish was convicted for sexual harassment of a 14-year-old choir boy from Aubange between 1987 and 1991. The case was reopened and Hubermont was finally convicted 5 June 2007.Innocenceprofanee.org , Golias Magazine, n° 114, May/June 2007Devillet, Joël, Violé par un prêtre, Les Editions de l'Arbre, ..., 2009 ISBN ...
Diocese of Tournai Priest Jean-François Gysels, former parish priest in Brunehaut and Rumes and former deacon of Antoing in the diocese of Tournai, was arrested in 2006 as a result of operation Falcon, an American led worldwide investigation of internet child pornography.
Salesians
In 2007, a Belgian criminal court convicted Willem V.C., a laicised Salesian priest, to four years imprisonment for sexual delinquency with multiple adolescent minors. During the criminal investigation by the police and judiciary, previous acts of sexual delinquency were discovered that took place during his membership of the Salesian congregation. He was expelled from this order in 2001 for these incidents.
Croatia
Archdiocese of Zagreb Ivan Čuček convicted in 2000 for sexual abuse of 37 young girls, sentenced to three years in prison, but later the Croatian Supreme Court reduced the sentence to one and a half years in case he commits such crime again.
Archdiocese of Rijeka Drago Ljubičić convicted in 2007 was a Catholic priest on the island of Rab sentenced to three years in prison for molesting five teenage boys. He was the first Catholic priest to serve prison time for sexual abuse in Croatia. Prior to the scandal, when asked by the Catholic press agency Glas Koncila on why children avoid going to church, he blamed 'strong influence of communism on the island of Rab'.
Czech Republic
Archdiocese of Olomouc
In 2000 Fr. František Merta and Olomouc Archbishop Jan Graubner were charged after allegations were made by a theology student, Václav Novák, that Merta had sexually abused altar boys since 1995. Novák persuaded a group of victims to come forward with their allegations against Merta. In 2001, Merta was found guilty of sexually abusing more than 20 boys and given a suspended sentence of two years. When he was a priest in Moravia, Archbishop Jan Graubner failed to report him. Instead, Graubner moved him from location to location whenever problems appeared. A book about Merta's child sexual abuse cases, Křičí hlasem zrady (They Are Shouting the Voice of Betrayal), was published in March 2001 by Václav Novák.The Prague Post Online: News
Denmark
Diocese of Copenhagen In the end of April 2010 Danish Catholic Church reported pedophilia cases has risen to 17 cases.Number of Denmark catholic church abuse cases rises The Copenhagen post 9 April 2010
France Abuse affairs have also affected the Church in France. On 3 June 2019, the French Catholic Church activated a sex abuse commission—made up of 22 legal professionals, doctors, historians, sociologists and theologians—which will obtain witness statements and deliver its conclusions by the end of 2020. In July 2019, the Holy See waived the diplomatic immunity of its nuncio to France Luigi Ventura, who has been under investigation for sex abuse and will likely face criminal charges in Paris. Despite an ongoing criminal investigation in Paris, it was revealed on 30 September 2019 that Ventura no longer resides in France and now lives in Rome, Italy.