A German priest at the center of a sexual abuse scandal that has embroiled Pope Benedict has been suspended after breaching a ban on working with children. Father Hullermann was first accused of sexually abusing young boys in 1980, but Church officials, including the future Pope, allowed him to stay in the church for thirty years, even after a 1986 conviction of sexually abusing children. In recent weeks, more than 100 reports have emerged of abuse at Catholic institutions in Germany, including one linked to the prestigious Regensburg choir once run by the Pope’s brother. On Friday, the head of Germany’s Catholic Church, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, apologized to victims of child abuse by priests.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch: “Above all, I wish to clarify that the German bishops are profoundly shocked about what has happened within the world of the Church as far as sexual abuse and violent acts are concerned. A few weeks ago I apologized to the victims, something I’d like to do again here in Rome.”

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting for the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland to resign over revelations that he did not report complaints against a pedophile priest to police thirty-five years ago. At a meeting in 1975, Cardinal Sean Brady spoke with children abused by a priest named Brendan Smyth. Instead of reporting the abuse to the police, Brady asked the children to take a vow of silence. The founder of the child abuse support group One in Four, Colm O’Gorman, said the priest continued to rape and abuse children.

Colm O’Gorman: “Remember, they carried out the investigation. They interviewed the child victims of this priestly rapist. Sean Brady determined in his own mind that these children were telling the truth, and he then simply passed the information up the line and did nothing. And for another eighteen years, as Sean Brady rose through the ranks in the Catholic Church hierarchy, Brendan Smyth continued to rape and abuse children.”