THE HAGUE?Dutch religious leaders ordered Tuesday a "broad, external and independent" investigation of alleged sexual abuses of children by Catholic priests, and apologized to victims.

"An investigation will be opened as soon as possible," Dutch Religious Conference spokesman Will van de Ven told AFP after a meeting to discuss abuse claims by about 200 alleged victims dating from the 1960s up to the 1970s.

"To the victims of abuse in Catholic boarding schools, the religious leaders and bishops offer their deepfelt condolences and apologies," a statement added.

The Dutch Catholic Church announced last week it would probe claims that pupils at a monastery school in the eastern Netherlands were sexually abused by priests 40 to 50 years ago.

That announcement, which focused on three possible victims at the Don Rua monastery in the town of Heerenberg, prompted nearly 200 other alleged victims from different institutions to come forward in recent days, Van de Ven said.

On Tuesday, the Dutch Bishops' Conference and the Dutch Religious Conference (KNR) met in the central city of Utrecht to discuss the claims, which they described as "painful".

"The bishops and the KNR management are deeply touched by the gripping accounts of sexual abuse that have come forward in recent days," said a joint statement.

"All forms of sexual abuse have to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. It is contrary to the gospel and the dignity of human beings.

"It is a painful discovery and a sin that the duty of care owed to children and young people appears to have been lacking in a number of priests and religious leaders in the middle of the previous century."

The religious bodies said the number of reported abuses in Dutch Catholic institutions warranted a full investigation, which they said should be "broad, external and independent".

The church would find investigators with the required expertise and determine a time-frame for the probe, to be directed by former Dutch education minister Wim Deetman.

"Victims have a need to be heard and so be given acknowledgement," the statement said, adding the investigation would be complex and must be conducted with extreme care.

Victims could also report to a special Catholic church commission called Hulp & Recht (Support and Right).

Repeated revelations of pedophile priests have rocked the Roman Catholic Church in recent months.

German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger on Monday accused the Vatican of hindering investigations into abuse claims, including at a boys' choir that was directed for 30 years by Pope Benedict XVI's brother, Georg Ratzinger.

On Tuesday, the Vatican said Catholic authorities in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and other countries had reacted "decisively" to the allegations.

Speaking on Vatican Radio, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi added: "All objective and informed people know that the issue is much wider, and to focus accusations only on the Church leads to a skewed perspective."