German Catholic Church apologizes over child sex abuse

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - Germany’s Catholic Church on Tuesday apologized to the victims of child sex abuse by the clergy.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the president of the German Bishops' Conference, told a news conference in Fulda that a recent investigation revealed hundreds of cases of child sex abuse.

“For a long time the church has denied, looked away and covered-up the abuses. I do apologize for this and for all the pain,” he said.

A four-year investigation released by the church on Tuesday revealed that church leaders covered up sex abuse by at least 1,670 clerics between 1946 and 2014.

At least 3,677 children were subjected to sexual exploitation, the investigation revealed.

Cardinal Marx promised that Bishop's Conference would discuss this week possible reforms to ensure that such incidents would not happen again.