Netherlands: Catholic Church ‘castrated boys as gay cures and punishments’

Netherlands: Catholic Church ‘castrated boys as gay cures and punishments’

A newspaper in the Netherlands claims to have uncovered cases in which boys in Roman Catholic care over half a century ago were castrated to stop them being gay or to punish them for uncovering abuse.

NRC Handelsblad is reporting that more than ten teenage boys and young men were surgically castrated to try to rid them of homosexuality and that Catholic carers castrated boys who blew the whistle on abuse.

Wim Deetman’s inquiry into sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands was reportedly sent evidence of the castrations but the allegations were not followed up in the final report.

The paper says in 1956 20-year-old Henk Heithuis was castrated after he reported priests to the police following abuse at the Catholic care home in which he was living.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/03/20/the-netherlands-catholic-church-castrated-boys-as-gay-cures-and-punishments/