Catholic diocese in Germany suspends priest for "inappropriate" internet activities
Monday, May 17 2010 @ 05:16 PM BST
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Tag: germanyBy The Associated Press (CP)
BERLIN — A Roman Catholic Bishop of a diocese in western Germany has suspended a priest due to evidence of "inappropriate behaviour" on the Internet, a spokesman said Monday.
The evidence was given to prosecutors, but they did not launch a formal investigation as the activities were not deemed criminal, Aachen diocese spokesman Franz Kretschmann said.
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He declined to describe the allegations against the Rev. Udo van Deursen. He said the priest, born in 1969, admitted to "inappropriate behaviour" in Internet chat rooms. Kretschmann said there was no evidence of child pornography.
Aachen prosecution spokesman Robert Deller confirmed that investigators checked the priest's Internet activities for sexual abuse of minors, but found no evidence of that or any other crime.
However, Kretschmann said the priest's activities constituted a severe breach of the priesthood's requirements, and said Bishop Heinrich Mussinghoff had suspended the priest from all pastoral duties.
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