German diocese: Former bishop accused of sexual abuse

BERLIN — A Roman Catholic diocese in Germany says a man has made a “plausible” claim that he was sexually abused in the late 1950s and early 1960s by its then-bishop, who died in 1988.

The Hildesheim diocese in northern Germany said Friday that the man came forward earlier this year with the claim against the late Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen. It said the current bishop’s advisors on questions of sexual abuse considered the claim plausible, and that it made a payment to the man in “recognition of his suffering” at the recommendation of the German Bishops’ Conference.

It didn’t specify how much was paid out, but said the man made further financial demands that the diocese rejected.

The German church was shaken in 2010 by revelations of abuse by clergy.