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Probe ordered into Catholic Church sex abuse cover-ups in Switzerland

The coordinating body of the Catholic dioceses in Switzerland said Sunday a preliminary investigation had been launched into accusations of sexual abuse cover-ups within the Church.

Probe ordered into Catholic Church sex abuse cover-ups in Switzerland
The monastery of Montcroix in Delemont, north-western Switzerland. Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI/AFP.

The Bishops’ Conference of Switzerland said an investigation has been opened following accusations of both abuse and efforts to cover up abuse had been made against several former and serving members of the conference, as well as other members of clergy.

The conference statement came after the SonntagsBlick weekly on Sunday reported that a former prominent priest had in a letter accused four current and two former bishops of covering up cases of sexual abuse by clergy in Switzerland.

One of them was himself accused of sexually harassing a boy, the paper reported.

The conference acknowledged in Sunday’s statement that a letter dated in late May contained accusations involving “the handling of sex abuse cases”.

Some of those names “are accused themselves of committing sexual abuse in the past”, it said, stressing that “the appropriate authorities have been informed about the cases mentioned in the letter”.

The letter had been addressed to Martin Krebs, the apostolic nuncio to Switzerland, who had transmitted the accusations to the dicastery in Rome.

On June 23, the dicastery ordered a preliminary investigation, and appointed the Bishop of Chur Joseph Bonnemain to lead the probe, the statement said. The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

“The main focus of this preliminary ecclesiastic investigation is the accusation of dissimulation of abuse cases,” the conference said.

Investigation of the alleged sexual abuse itself would primarily fall to police and prosecutors, it explained.

The conference stressed that its directives oblige ecclesiastic leaders to file complaints with the authorities in any cases where there is suspicion of sexual crimes against minors.

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CRIME

Mystery persists as missing Swiss paintings reappear

One of the Switzerland's top art museums announced Sunday the return of two paintings that went missing last year, refusing to provide details in a case still under investigation.

Mystery persists as missing Swiss paintings reappear

Kunsthaus Zurich offered in June 2023 a reward of 10,000 Swiss francs ($11,100) for information that could help it track one painting by Flemish painter Robert van den Hoecke and another by the Dutch Golden Age artist Dirck de Bray.

The small paintings disappeared when the Kunsthaus took down more than 700 works for cleaning and restoration after a fire broke out in August 2022.

But no trace of the two paintings could later be found.

On Sunday, the museum said only that its restoration experts had confirmed both paintings were in “good condition”, with no indication of how or when they turned up.

Because of ongoing police inquiries, “no further information will be released for the time being,” the Kunsthaus said.

Museum officials had alerted the missing works to the Art Loss Register, the world’s largest database of lost and stolen pieces.

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