The Roman Catholic church in the Netherlands is calling for an independent investigation into reports of widespread sexual abuse within its institutions.

Bishop Ad van Luyn made his call for the investigation in the TV programme Kruispunt; he says it is the job of the church to clearly condemn abuse and to apologise to vicitims. He says he also wants to ensure measures are taken to prevent any repetition of sexual abuse in the future. 

"First of all, I feel that the victims should as soon as possible have a talk with the persons now in charge of and responsible for the institutions where these things took place. A talk that is honest and transparent, leading to recognition of the facts, leading to apologies for the suffering caused and which leads to redress wherever possible.
 
"The second thing is that the entire church must feel ashamed and that it is also the church's role to condemn this abuse clearly and plainly once and for all, to offer apologies, and to take all the measures necessary to guarantee prevention in the future."

Allegations of child sex abuse by priests at a boarding school in the eastern town of ‘s-Heerenberg came to light following an investigation by Radio Netherlands Worldwide and Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. 

First published a week ago our articles showed that during the 1960s and 1970s at least three and possibly more pupils were sexually abused at the school attached to the Don Rua monastery of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

Bishop Van Luyn, who now chairs the Netherlands Synod of Bishops, was provincial head of the Salesian order in the 1970s and taught at the school when some of the alleged abuse took place.

Now a week later almost 200 people have contacted the Roman Catholic help agency Help & Justice (Hulp & Recht) with further reports of sexual abuse. Bishop Van Luyn admits that it will be necessary to seek the assistance of experts from outside the church to handle the investigation:

"What has to happen now, and I have said this before, is that there has to be a thorough investigation into the facts, the reports, the context and the background against which this could take place, and also into the reactions at the time, how those in charge responded to the situations they were aware of.

"I personally am convinced that an independent investigation would do the most to meet the - justifiable - expectations of the victims, of society and also of the church community.
 
"We don't have all the expertise ourselves. It will be a very complex investigation which should be left to experts. And I think if they do it, the outcome will be more acceptable and come across more clearly."
 
Further investigation by Radio Netherlands Worldwide and NRC Handelsblad has revealed that in 2006, the church in Utrecht closed a deal with insurance company Aegon to set aside one million euros to cover claims demanded by victims who have been sexually abused by Catholic priests. Any damages exceeding the one million euros must be paid by the church.