Saturday, March 17, 2012

Forced Child Castrations Reportedly Found in Roman Catholic Care

Jesus Christ! is there no end to the horror stories that keep coming out of the Dutch Catholic Church?


Forced castrations reportedly found in Roman Catholic care
17 March 2012

Underage sexual abuse victims were castrated in Dutch Roman Catholic psychiatric wards in the 1950s, according to the Rotterdam-based newspaper NRC Handelsblad.




Castration was performed on young men who were thought to be homosexual, but also as a means of punishing those who blew the whistle on abusers, the paper quotes sources as saying.

NRC discovered proof of the forced castration of one young man and strong evidence that at least ten other abuse victims were subjected to the removal of their testicles. The proof includes court documents, medical records, letters from lawyers and private correspondence.

According to the paper, the practice was reported in 2010 to the Deetman Commission which completed its investigation of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic church last December. The commission, led by former cabinet minister Wim Deetman of the Christian Democrat party (CDA), made no mention of the castration of abuse victims in its final report.

NRC also writes that a prominent Dutch politician tried to secure a royal pardon for Catholic brothers convicted of sexual abuse at Harreveld, a former boarding school in the Netherlands. The politician was Vic Marijnen, who later became Dutch prime minister.

Marijnen was chairman of the Harreveld board of governors at the time when the abuses took place. He was also vice-chairman of the Netherlands' main Catholic child protection agency and leader of the Catholic People's Party (KVP), which later merged with Protestant groups to create the Christian Democrats.

In a reaction, the church-installed Deetman Commission says it did not publish any findings on the castration of abused minors in its final report because it had "too few leads for further investigation." The commission did not report on the actions of Vic Marijnen because "the case was unmistakeably tied to circumstances which could be traced back to an individual person." In its final report, the commission left most identities anonymous as a means of protecting individuals' privacy. Radio Netherlands and more Catholic Church abuse stories.


H/T Maren.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, "the horror stories that keep coming out". Thank you for posting. M.NL

JeannieChurchLady said...

This story is really "Over the Top!" It is completely outrageous! If the good people of the Netherlands don't drag the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church into World Court over these CRIMINAL Acts, I would really be surprised! Hopefully, this story will be the proverbial, "Final Straw!"

Anonymous said...

Time for the truth about Catholic sex abuse in the Netherlands.

http://bit.ly/wwqtgb

Himself said...

Thank you Maren, I shall post it shortly, I just have to pop out to the doctors to get my bloods done, but I shall be back in a wee while.

Do you think you might be able to dig something up on Robert Chesal and Joep Dohmen, regarding the bigger picture?

Must dash.

Later
H

Anonymous said...

bit.ly/GC9QLf
linkd.in/GAJzSn
bit.ly/GAwq6N
bit.ly/GCadKI
bit.ly/GCC3Wv

Anonymous said...

info only
tweet tryingtobegood NI
http://shar.es/p5ZtQ

not to be confused with NL

Anonymous said...

http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/
pressure-grows-inquiry-church-
ordered-castrations

Himself said...

Hi Maren, it's Library day with Mother again, I'm heading out very shortly.

Later then.

Anonymous said...

OT

"We can’t help loving him, though we have hated him all these years ... That’s our Hamsun trauma. He’s a ghost that won’t stay in the grave."
http://bit.ly/Xi7nh

I’ve read his book "Mysteries", without knowledge of his autobiography. A talented writer, but now, knowing, I’ll never read any of his books. Cold comfort, "Mysteries" was written in 1892.

I trust you are doing well M

Himself said...

Thank you for the links.

I did read the RNW article the other day when you sent me to the site for?

I shall keep my eye on it and see how the story unfolds. But I would have expected more outrage as the details are starting to emerge. Maybe there is, but I don't get the feel for it because I don't read Dutch and other sources.

Anonymous said...

Reading is probably another way of being in a place. - José Saramago
http://bit.ly/bjEEjR

Anonymous said...

http://bit.ly/JNIbiM

Anonymous said...

http://huff.to/PFUQlV

100-year-old mysterious package in Norway set to be opened.

http://www.vgtv.no/#!id=55544

Anonymous said...

Rayyan Faris‏
@rayyanfaris

The most fascinating thing about Norway's mystery package is Norwegians' patience. Hope it turns out valuable.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/
chrisbarth/2012/08/24/norways-100-
year-old-mystery-package-opened-guess-what-was-inside/