The province set up a committee to collect information about Fr. "B's" actions and statements, Claes said, and a committee report "will be sent to the superiors of the Salesian congregation in Rome."

Spronck was dismissed from his position as head of the Salesians in the Netherlands after RTL radio published a transcript of an interview with the priest in which he reportedly said sexual relations between adults and children should be allowed. The priest is quoted as saying, "We shouldn't consider age so rigidly. You should never break into the personal space of a child if the child does not want that, but that has to do with the child himself. There are also children who themselves indicate that it is okay. Sexual contact is then also possible."

The provincial of Belgium-Holland said, "We distance ourselves completely from the comments by Fr. H. Spronck" and the order suspended him "from all delegated authority" within the Salesian order.

The order's headquarters offered its apologies and said, "We can understand that this news has undoubtedly once again seriously wounded the justified sensitivities of many persons."

It said, "The congregation will take the necessary disciplinary steps in conformity with the protocol in place since 2002 and with the norms given by the Church in this matter."

The Dutch bishops' conference and the conference of Dutch religious launched a "broad external and independent inquiry" into cases of clerical sexual abuse in May 2010 after more than 1,500 people contacted a victims' assistance hotline and more than 50 formal complaints were filed in just three months.

The bishops and religious superiors have strongly condemned all forms of sexual abuse, saying it is contrary to the Gospel and the dignity of the human person.

{iarelatednews articleid="1105,3700,4611,4699"}