Germany’s under-fire Catholic Church admitted Thursday it must urgently confront its child sex abuse scandal, but victims accused it of continued “stonewalling”, especially on compensation. As in Australia, Chile, France, Ireland and the United States, Germany’s Catholic Church has had to admit to abuses by predator priests and clergy and their systematic cover-up over decades. “We carry responsibility toward those affected around the world — no-one among us can still negate the problem or treat it as a taboo,” said Cardinal Reinhard Marx, head of the German Bishops’ Conference.
