Abuse hotline set up by Catholic Church in Germany melts down on first day as 4,000 people phone in

[IScreamSundays]

An abuse hotline set up by the Catholic Church in Germany melted down on its first day of operation as more than 4,000 alleged victims of paedophile and violent priests called in to seek counselling and advice.

The numbers were far more than the handful of therapists assigned to deal with them could cope with.

In the end only 162 out of 4,459 callers were given advice before the system was shut down.

Andreas Zimmer, head of the project in the Bishopric of Trier, admitted that he wasn't prepared for "that kind of an onslaught'.

snip>

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1263108/Abuse-hotline-set-Catholic-Church-Germany-melts-day-4-000-people-phone-in.html?

[Heidi]

1. If church leadership had been taking the situation seriously, they would have been prepared.

Recommended.

[lunatica]

2. more from your link

Earlier this week it was alleged that an ally of the Pope, Bishop Mixa, beat children - a charge he has subsequently denied.

Former girls and boys testified that he beat them with fists and a carpet beater which screaming; 'The devil is in you and I will drive him out!'

Also, the bishopric of Trier reported that 20 priests are suspected of having sexually abused children between the 1950s and 1990s.

Bishop Stephan Ackermann, who was appointed last year, said on Monday that three of the cases had been passed on to public prosecutors, with two more soon to follow.

[lunatica]

3. And again more from your link

German media are calling the scandal 'the hour of the children'. Silent, often for decades after pressure was applied to both them and their families by the Church, they are now finding the courage to speak out.

The effect on the Catholic Church in Germany has been profound; people are leaving in droves, de-registering with the government department that levies an annual tax of 800 pounds each on worshippers to fund it.

A quarter of Catholics in Germany said in a recent survey they had lost faith in the Church leadership.

[Karenina]

6. They are going to lose a SHITLOAD O' DOUGH!!!

I feel the rumblings of a potential financial 9.8 for the church here. The young will "Abmeldung" on moral grounds, fending off their families and the state from garnishing their wages to support the church. This collapse will NOT be pretty.

Would that the wealth be returned to those from whom it was stolen... at least in SOME MEASURE!

First on the list is STOP LYING, DENYING, BLAMING THE VICTIMS AND MAKING LAME ATTEMPTS TO KILL THE MESSENGERS!

"Petty gossip," indeed... :nuke::nuke::nuke:

[RC]

4. Maybe this time something will have to be done, as it is getting harder and harder

to sweep it under the rug. The lumps are getting too big to ignore.

Let the priests and nuns marry... not necessarily to each other. Stop covering up and transferring the law breakers.

[rocktivity]

5. Truly don't know whether to

:rofl: or :cry:
rocktivity

[Sanity Claws]

7. This is from victims who are still alive

so most of this reported abuse is within the past 50 years.
The current top officials must have known of this systemic problem.