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Dutch Catholic church castrated at least 10 boys and young men in 1950s
Henk Heithuis was 20 years old in 1956 when he was castrated in a Dutch Catholic hospital. Two years later he was dead. According to a report in the U.K. newspaper The Telegraph, Heithuis and at least nine others were surgically castrated on order of the Catholic church “as a treatment for homosexuality and also as a punishment for those who accused clergy of sexual abuse.”
The explosive allegations are part of a report by Dutch investigative journalist Joep Dohmen, who told the Telegraph that of the ten reports he uncovered, only Heithuis is named. As for the other nine, he said, “These cases are anonymous and can no longer be traced. There will be many more. But the question is whether those boys, now old men, will want to tell their story.”
The story of Henk Heithuis was brought to light by Dutch sculptor Cornelius Rogge, now 79, whose family knew Heithuis. Rogge first attempted to report the young man’s abuse at the hands of the church as part of an official inquiry launched in December of 2011 by Dutch cabinet minister Wim Deetman.
The Deetman inquiry chose not to look into the allegations, saying that there were “few leads to conduct further research.” Evidence emerged on Monday, however, that not only was the Catholic church ordering castrations, but that government inspectors were present at the meetings discussing castrations and that officials felt no particular need to consult the patients’ families.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/20/dutch-catholic-church-castrated-at-least-10-boys-and-young-men-in-1950s/
The explosive allegations are part of a report by Dutch investigative journalist Joep Dohmen, who told the Telegraph that of the ten reports he uncovered, only Heithuis is named. As for the other nine, he said, “These cases are anonymous and can no longer be traced. There will be many more. But the question is whether those boys, now old men, will want to tell their story.”
The story of Henk Heithuis was brought to light by Dutch sculptor Cornelius Rogge, now 79, whose family knew Heithuis. Rogge first attempted to report the young man’s abuse at the hands of the church as part of an official inquiry launched in December of 2011 by Dutch cabinet minister Wim Deetman.
The Deetman inquiry chose not to look into the allegations, saying that there were “few leads to conduct further research.” Evidence emerged on Monday, however, that not only was the Catholic church ordering castrations, but that government inspectors were present at the meetings discussing castrations and that officials felt no particular need to consult the patients’ families.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/20/dutch-catholic-church-castrated-at-least-10-boys-and-young-men-in-1950s/
Wow. And the church will continue to fight and deny, and apologists will twist into knots trying to rationalize it, as they always do...
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