Charges filed against Germany's top bishop

Germany's top Catholic bishop is being investigated on suspicion of allowing a priest accused of child abuse in the 1960s to …

Germany's top Catholic bishop is being investigated on suspicion of allowing a priest accused of child abuse in the 1960s to be reappointed to a parish job in 1987, state prosecutors said today.

Prosecutors in the southwestern city of Freiburg said charges of aiding and abetting sexual abuse had been filed against Robert Zollitsch, head of the German Bishops' Conference and archbishop of Freiburg.

Bishop Zollitsch( 71) was head of church personnel in Freiburg when a Cistercian priest was given a parish job in Birnau despite charges of child abuse against the cleric being known to church authorities, prosecutors said.

The archdiocese denied in a statement that Bishop Zollitsch was responsible for the appointment, saying the decision was taken independently by the monk's religious order.

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The archdiocese accused the prosecutors and news media of raking up "sensationalism" by describing the charges against Bishop Zollitsch as aiding and abetting sexual abuse.

Reuters