Croatian bishop says no evidence found of sex abuse in orphanage

Published: 2006-03-28

OXFORD, England (CNS) -- A Croatian bishop said an archdiocesan commission found no evidence to support claims of sex abuse at a Catholic orphanage but said he was awaiting police and court proceedings. "It still isn't clear what's behind this so-called scandal," Auxiliary Bishop Valentin Pozaic of Zagreb told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview March 24. "There've been so many unfounded accusations -- we're waiting to discover how much is genuine, and how much is political." Police are investigating allegations of neglect and abuse at a Caritas-run home for mentally handicapped orphans in Brezovica, near the Croatian capital, Zagreb. Caritas is Croatia's national Catholic charity and social service agency. Police arrested a cook and caretaker at the Alojzije Stepinac orphanage in July on suspicion of abuse and charged a former director with failing to report criminal activity. In August Cardinal Josip Bozanic of Zagreb, responding to claims the scandal had been covered up after it was first investigated in 2002, launched the archdiocesan investigation.

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