Hundreds of children abused in Pope Benedict’s brother’s choir

This video says about itself:

Alleged victims on abuse claims connected to Catholic church

Regensburg – 10 March 2010

1. Wide of “Regensburger Domspatzen” boys’ choir school building
2. Sign on school building reading (German) “Regensburger Domspatzen”
3. Boys walking up to school entrance
4. Close-up of glass panel over school entrance
Munich – 11 March 2010
5. Wolfgang Blaschka sitting at table in cafe, drinking coffee
6. SOUNDBITE (German) Wolfgang Blaschka, student at Etterzhausen Elementary School from 1966 to 1967:

“My earlobe was ripped off in one punishment. One day I found myself hanging in the air by my hair – my whole bodyweight – in the claw of this Principal Meier. And when I then tried to support my bodyweight by grabbing his arm, he beat me very badly.”
7. Close-up of Blaschka’s eyes
8. SOUNDBITE (German) Wolfgang Blaschka, student at Etterzhausen Elementary School from 1966 to 1967:

“I myself was slapped in the face by him (Georg Ratzinger)

priest, director of the Regensburger Domspatzen children’s choir (which he made perform, eg, at the NATO summit in Germany in 1982), and elder brother of Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI

, and it was particularly painful when he pulled me up here by my sideburns, that was very mean. Although I was not a bad singer. But when it was about the music, he was a full-blooded musician, he really was quick-tempered and forgot about everything.”
Regensburg – 10 March 2010
9. Wide tilt down of house of Georg Ratzinger, brother of Pope Benedict XVI
10. Close-up of memorial plaque on wall of house in honour of Pope Benedict XVI‘s visit in 2006, reading (German) “The monastery chapter of St. Johann remembers the visit of the Holy Father Benedict XVI to his brother Georg Ratzinger on 13 September 2006.”
11. Georg Ratzinger walking to door of his house
12. Close-up of Ratzinger’s name next to door bell
13. Ratzinger at door
Munich – 11 March 2010
14. Wide of Rudolf Neumaier, student from 1981 to 1982 at Etterzhausen Elementary School, entering office at “Sueddeutsche Zeitung” publishing house, sitting down
15. SOUNDBITE (German) Rudolf Neumaier, student at Etterzhausen Elementary School from 1981 to 1982:

“The responsible persons in Regensburg knew that there was something wrong. They did not act and therefore I was quite surprised, at the beginning of this week, that (Johann) Meier was still there in 1991 and that a witness had said that nothing had changed and Meier was still beating students in 1991.”
16. Neumaier talking on the phone
17. SOUNDBITE (German) Rudolf Neumaier, student at Etterzhausen Elementary School from 1981 to 1982:

“Well, then he was beating this boy, he shouted and screamed at him and then he pulled him out of his seat and struck him on the back with the chair, so that the chair broke into two pieces. This was the worst incident I witnessed.”
Regensburg – 10 March 20100
18. Wide of Regensburg cathedral, tilt up to cathedral spires

STORYLINE

Two alleged victims of a child abuse scandal connected to the Catholic church in Germany came forward on Thursday, including a former member of an all-boys choir led by the pope’s brother.

Germany’s top education representative sharply criticised the church on Thursday for failing to report cases of physical and sexual abuse in a timely fashion.

The uproar came a day before Germany’s highest bishop was to meet Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.

At least 170 former students from Catholic schools in Germany have come forward with claims of sexual abuse recently and others have spoken of physical abuse.

Wolfgang Blaschka, a 52-year-old graphic designer, said that corporal punishment was the rule, not the exception, when he was a student at the Etterzhausen school just outside Regensburg.

“One day I found myself hanging in the air by my hair – my whole bodyweight – in the claw of this Principal Meier,” he said, referring to then-director Johann Meier.

He alleged that Ratzinger had hit him too.

The scandal has clearly shaken the Vatican.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV:

One hundred new reports of abuse in German choir

Today, 17:46

A German bishop who does research on abuse and violence at the German Catholic boys choir Regensburger Domspatzen, has now received reports from 422 people. These are over a hundred more than earlier this year, the bishop of Regensburg has said. 65 of the 422 reports concern sexual violence.

Since last year research has been done about abuses at the Bavarian choir in the period 1945 to 1992. The sexual violence ranged from fondling to rape. Boys also said they were beaten until bloody with a stick, key ring or seal ring. If a child had wet the bed, then he was banned from drinking anything.

End of next year a committee will decide on compensation. Victims can look forward to financial compensation of between 5,000 and 20,000 euros and are offered therapeutic help. There will also be an investigation into the causes of the abuse at the choir.

Benedict

The perpetrators of abuse are now deceased. Georg Ratzinger [still alive], the older brother of former Pope Benedict, was between 1964 and 1994 the leader of the choir. The lawyer of several victims thinks he knew about the abuse. Ratzinger is in denial about that.

The Regensburger Domspatzen is the choir of the cathedral of Regensburg. The choir is more than a thousand years old.