The child abuse scandal rocking the Vatican grew yet again Wednesday when former children in a German orphanage submitted written statements that a German bishop habitually beat them.
The Bishop of Augsburg, Walter Mixa, was a controversial conservative churchman appointed by Pope Benedict in 2005 and has been called his friend.
According to the statement, Mixa used to hit and degrade the children repeatedly during sessions of punishment at the Catholic orphanage. Among other details, Mixa is accused of using a carpet beater on the bare behinds of victims as he screamed: ‘Satan is in you and I must drive him out.’
A controversial figure in the Catholic church, Mixa previously explained that the liberation movement deserved a ‘significant’ part of the blame for pedophilia scandals in the church.
Hildegard Sedlmair, now 48, said she was beaten by the German bishop when she was 15.
“I was really upset when the pope appointed him Bishop because he was much lower in rank then and doesn’t deserve to be where he is because of what he put us through,” she said. “He grabbed me by my smock, hauled me out of bed and beat me on the upper arms until they were black and blue.”
She said the time spent at the orphanage ‘was the worst of my life’.
A man who didn’t identify himself told Germany’s Sueddeutsche newspaper: ‘A minimum of 50 times in one year he made me drop my trousers and beat me on my behind with a carpet beater or a stick, really, really hard.’ He was allegedly at the home between 1972 to 1982.
According to the statements, it wasn’t just Bishop Mixa who dished plenty of corporal punishment. The nuns also hit the children with ‘wooden brooms, wooden shoes, and clothing hangers,’ the statement said.
Mixa was friendly with then Cardinal Ratzinger in Germany years ago. He is now part of a conservative group that backed several of the Pope’s more controversial decisions.
A spokeswoman for the Bishopric of Augsburg said the statements were “absurd.”
“At no time and in none of his functions has Bishop Mixa ever maltreated children. [These allegations] are absurd, untrue, and evidently concocted with the aim of personally discrediting the bishop,” said spokeswoman Kathi Marie Ulrich.
By Andrew McLemore
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 — 10:19 pm
Source: The Raw Story
Related information:
– 40% of Americans view Pope Benedict XVI favorably (Gallup)
– 1963 letter indicates former pope knew of abuse (AP)
– Germany’s Catholic Church sexual abuse hotline received 1,000 calls the first day (Digital Journal)
– Austrian Catholic Church Abuse Hot Lines Log 566 Reports This Year (Austrian Independent)
– Australian Bishop says ‘vast amount’ of sexual abuse cases yet to emerge (Sydney Morning Herald)
– Deaf Boys Tried to Tell of Priest’s Abuse FOR YEARS (New York Times)
– Christopher Hitchens Slams Vatican, Pope Over Sex Abuse Scandal (Huffington Post)
– The Pope Is Not Above the Law (Slate)
– Sex Abuse Victims to Sue Vatican (Times)
– Pope Benedict Signals Won’t Be Intimidated By Abuse Critics, Uses Popemobile For First Time On A Palm Sunday (New York Times/AFP)
– Vatican knew of abuse in Ontario: Victim (Toronto Star)
– A church sex scandal where the truth is crucified (Toronto Star)
– Sinead O’Connor: ‘There Should Be A Full Criminal Investigation Of The Pope’ (LA Times)
– Catholic Church quietly expelling and punishing children, homeless (Irish Central)
– Former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland routinely shredded copies of weekly reports about sexual abuse by priests (Flashback):
Former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland routinely shredded copies of weekly reports about sexual abuse by priests, according to formerly sealed testimony turned over to Milwaukee County’s district attorney on Thursday.
– Swiss Catholic Church Investigating 10 Abuse Cases (Reuters)
– Irish Catholic Church Paid Child Sex Abuse Victim To Keep Quiet (Guardian)
– Catholic Church Child Abuse: Nuns Now Also Accused (Radio Netherlands Worldwide)
– Church: Pope Had Role in Moving Molesting Priest (Bloomberg)
– Pope knew priest was paedophile but allowed him to continue with ministry (Times)
– Pope will struggle to survive abuse scandal (Irish Independent)
– Benedict’s involvement ’shows extent of cover-ups’ (Irish Independent)
– Sinead O’Connor: I’d help Jesus to burn down the Vatican (Irish Independent)
– RIGHTS-GERMANY: ‘Catholic Church Protects Paedophile Priests’ (IPS)