Catholic church abuse claims rise to 200

Some 200 people have now registered sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic church officials with the church organisation set up to help victims, the Telegraaf reports on Monday.

Jan Waaijer, spokesman for the Hulp en Recht organisation said he was shocked by the flood of claims since the end of February, when newspapers reported claims of abuse at a boarding school in 's-Heerenberg in the 1960s and 1970s.

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'Let it all come out now. A church which is mature and open to self-criticism can deal with this,' he told the paper.

The organisation has taken on extra staff to deal with the surge, he said.

Bishops

Meanwhile, Ad van Luyn, chairman of the Dutch bishops conference, has called for an independent inquiry into the abuse claims.

'It is the job of the church to clearly condemn abuse and apologise,' he told a tv show. 'In the future, the church must take every measure possible to stop this happening.'

The bishops conference is due to meet to discuss the growing scandal on Tuesday.

Insurance

On Saturday it emerged that the diocese of Utrecht agreed �1m in coverage with Aegon against potential abuse claims back in 2006.

The NRC and Radio Netherlands report that the deal was the result of a long-running dispute between the church and insurance company.

'The church viewed compensation paid to sexual abuse victims could be deemed a physical injury claim,' the NRC said. 'Aegon refused to do this because it did not wish to put a premium on the misuse of minors.'

Compensation

The insurance deal follows a �43,000 payout made to a girl who had been abused by a priest.

The Aegon deal only covers claims made before 2000 and a spokesman for Aegon told the paper no claims had been made.

The church's current insurer Nationale Nederland does not cover damages claims stemming from sexual abuse, the paper says.

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