Government should probe abuse claims, says Swedish Catholic church

Tag: swedish

Stockholm - The Swedish government reacted cooly on Friday to a proposal that it should appoint an independent investigator to probe allegations of child abuse in the Roman Catholic church in Sweden.

The proposal was floated by Catholic Bishop Anders Arborelius in an interview with the Stockholm daily Svenska Dagbladet.

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"The government should name someone, I will write them shortly," the bishop told the newspaper. "We need to shed light on this matter by someone who does not have any ties to the church."

But the Culture Minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth said if it was not "very extensive, then I think the church should handle this matter itself."

She welcomed the bishop's stance about an open investigation, and said the government would consider the proposal if a request is made.

However, the police should handle cases where the statute of limitations had not taken affect, she told the online edition of Svenska Dagbladet.

Arborelius earlier this month issued an apology after receiving information about two alleged child abuse cases that were several decades old. One of the cases dated back to the 1940s, the other was more recent.

Earlier this week the bishop said he was prepared to step down after another newspaper published an interview with a woman - in her 60s - who claimed she and her sister were abused by a priest, who was also in a relationship with their mother.

The woman said she had first approached the church over 20 years ago without any result. Arborelius was alerted about the allegations seven years ago but apparently did not act.

Arborleius told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper that at the time he had been giving spiritual counselling to the woman's mother - now deceased -and was bound by his vows not to pass on the information.

However, he was prepared to take the blame and step down if an investigation suggested any wrongdoing.

The Roman Catholic church has an estimated 93,000 members in Sweden - a mainly Lutheran nation of 9 million people.

Copyright DPA

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