Dutch Church leaders disclose a 2nd deceased bishop was guilty of abuse

April 25, 2014

For the 2nd time in less than a month, Church leaders in the Netherlands have announced credible evidence that a deceased bishop was guilty of abuse.

Bishop Johannes Nienhaus, who served as an auxiliary in the Utrecht archdiocese from 1982 to 1999, was the subject of four complaints, the archdiocese said. The complaints dated back to the years before his episcopal ordination. Bishop Nienhaus died in 2000.

Earlier this month the Roermond diocese confirmed the authenticity of complaints against Bishop Johannes Gijsen, who resigned in 1993 after an abuse scandal at the diocesan seminary. Bishop Gijsen—who was later named Bishop of Reykjavik, Iceland, and served there for 11 years after his departure from Roermond—died last year.

 

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Further information:

• Second dead Dutch Catholic bishop found guilty of sex abuse of minors (Reuters)
• Dutch diocese says abuse charges against former bishop are valid (CWN, 4/14)