Allegations of sexual abuse committed by Dutch Catholic clergy will be investigated in an "independent, open and transparent" way, says Wim Deetman, who will head the initial inquiry into the allegations. The Dutch Episcopal Conference appointed the former Christian Democrat education minister and ex-Mayor of The Hague after more than 100 claims of abuse were filed.

Two weeks ago, Radio Netherlands Worldwide and Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad published their investigation into alleged sexual abuse at the Don Rua Catholic boarding school in the east of the Netherlands in the 1950s and 1960s. This story and further investigation prompted hundreds of fresh claims.

Catholic background
At a press conference given by the Dutch Episcopal Conference on Friday, Mr Deetman said he was surprised by the request to lead the inquiry. He didn’t even consider himself the right person for the job: “I’m protestant, I do not have a Catholic background. I wondered whether it wouldn’t be wiser to ask someone from that background in this stage of the investigation. I even suggested many names, but it became clear to me that the independent character of the inquiry was a very important factor and that the bishops therefore preferred someone from outside the Catholic church.”
 

Determined
Mr Deetman has met the president of the Episcopal Conference, bishop Ad van Luyn of Rotterdam, and says he was impressed by his determination. “He simply wants to know what happened. Once they’ve found the answer, they can work on restoring confidence, he told me”.

Msgr Van Luyn was teaching at the Don Rua boarding school in 1960s when the alleged abuse took place. It is not clear whether he knew about the abuse.
 

Boycott
Despite the intentions of the upcoming investigation, not everyone believes the inquiry will actually be "independent, open and transparent" in its outcome. A group of victims of sexual abuse has even called for a boycott of the inquiry, saying it is biased in favour of the church.

Mr Deetman disagrees: “I only have two aims: one, to lead an independent investigation and two, to find answers to all the existing questions. We will also try to indicate which lessons can be learned from this crisis”.
 

Integrity
Mr Deetman will spend the next eight weeks forming a committee of experts whose integrity is undisputed. “And I also need people on the team who know about the history of the Catholic church in the Netherlands”, he adds. “People who know what life was like at boarding schools and monasteries in those days”.

Mr Deetman is expected to publish his findings before the summer.