BERLIN

More than 200 children were sexually abused by Catholic clergy in southern German cities over past decades, a new independent report revealed on Monday.

According to the Catholic Diocese of Wurzburg, since 1945 at least 226 children and juveniles have been victims of sexual abuse. Investigators identified 51 perpetrators, including 43 clergy members. Due to incomplete documentation, they noted that the actual number of incidents could be significantly higher.

During a press conference in Würzburg, Bishop Franz Jung, who has led the diocese since 2018, acknowledged that church leaders had spent decades prioritizing institutional protection and priests' reputations over addressing victims' complaints.

“The welfare of children and those affected was barely considered, if at all. This is both shameful and shocking,” he said, expressing regret over the decades-long repression, silence, and cover-up in the diocese.

Bishop Friedhelm Hofmann, who served from 2004 to 2017, has issued an apology for his handling of abuse cases during his tenure.

“I expressly apologize for cases where victims were not given sufficient hearing, where indications of assaults were not followed up quickly enough, and where perpetrators were not held accountable,” he said in a statement.

The investigation found that all bishops, except for the current Bishop Jung, had failed to properly address suspected cases of abuse among clergy members.

The Wurzburg investigation is part of a broader examination of abuse within the Catholic Church in Germany, with numerous dioceses commissioning similar studies and establishing victim advisory boards.