Salesian monks and priests who are guilty of sexually abusing minors will be told to leave their jobs within the congregation, the order’s head Herman Spronck told the NRC and Radio Netherlands on Friday.

Three members of the order accused of abusing children in the 1960s and 1970s are still involved in youth work or in management functions, the NRC reported.
One coordinates a meeting centre for teenagers in Apeldoorn, another is on the centre’s management board and the third works for the order on a national level.
First time
They have now been told they will have to leave and have accepted that, Sponck said. The NRC said this is the first time that the Catholic church has taken such steps against members of its congregation.
An NRC and Radio Netherlands investigation into sexual abuse involving the three clerics at the Don Rua cloisters in ‘s Heerenberg, Gelderland has sparked off a national scandal
So far, over 1,300 abuse reports have been made to the Catholic church body in charge of dealing with abuse cases. The church and government have both set up independent inquiries.