Dutch Roman Catholic Church 'castrated at least 10 boys'
[Dutch Roman Catholic Church
'castrated at least 10 boys': At least 10 teenage boys or young men under the
age of 21 were surgically castrated "to get rid of homosexuality" while in the
care of the Dutch Roman Catholic Church in the 1950s] "Evidence of the
castrations has emerged amid controversy that it was not included in the
findings of an official investigation into sexual abuse within the church last
year.
The NRC Handelsblad newspaper identified Henk Heithuis who was castrated in
1956, while a minor, after reporting priests to the police for abusing him in a
Catholic boarding home.
Joep Dohmen, the investigative journalist who uncovered the Heithuis case, also
found evidence of at least nine other castrations. "These cases are anonymous
and can no longer be traced," he said. "There will be many more. But the
question is whether those boys, now old men, will want to tell their story."
Mr Heithuis died in a car crash in 1958, two years after being castrated at the
age of 20, while under the age of majority, which was then 21.
In 1956 he had accused Catholic clergy of sexually abusing him in his Church run
care home.
Two clergymen were convicted of abuse but Mr Heithuis, a victim, was nonetheless
transferred by police to a Catholic psychiatric hospital before being admitted
to the St. Joseph Hospital in Veghel later that year.
There, court papers confirm, he was castrated "at his own request", despite no
submission of his written consent. Sources told Mr Dohmen that the surgical
removal of testicles was regarded as a treatment for homosexuality and also as a
punishment for those who accused clergy of sexual abuse..." Full text:
Dutch Roman Catholic Church 'castrated at least 10 boys'
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