From
Annette Zoch
“We don’t have the problem to this extent,” said the then chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Cardinal Karl Lehmann of Mainz, in 2002. in an interview with the Mirror. Shortly before he had Boston Globe the Archdiocese of Boston’s cover-up strategy in dealing with abusers exposed, hundreds more cases of sexual abuse by US priests came to light. “Why should I put on American shoes if they don’t fit me?” Lehmann said at the time. One shouldn’t pretend that these crimes occur en masse: “I vehemently defend myself against this suspicion, also on behalf of and to protect many irreproachable priests.”