Church will probe sexual abuse of children

On Saturday Pope Benedict XVI apologised in a letter for child sex abuse by Irish priests and spoke of the ˝shame and remorse˝.

COPENHAGEN, March 21, 2010 (AFP) - Following pressure from its members, the Danish Catholic Church will probe a number of cases involving sexual abuse of children, it said in a statement Sunday.

"The Catholic Church in Denmark has recently been criticised by its members for not investigating and reporting to the police cases of sexual abuse which date back 100 years," the statement said.

"Bishop Czeslaw Kozon now addresses this criticism by, as soon as he comes back from an official visit to the pope on March 27, setting up a group of competent people to investigate these cases."

Around 35,000 catholics live in Denmark, according to the Ritzau news agency, which said the Church's declarations were brought about by "massive pressure".

On Saturday Pope Benedict XVI apologised in a letter for child sex abuse by Irish priests and spoke of the "shame and remorse" he felt over the scandals.

Similar scandals have also emerged in Austria, Germany and Switzerland and the Netherlands.