Catholic Church resignations continue in wake of documented sexual abuse

Putin has increased the number of troops in the Russian army by about 170,000

According to the diocese, Sonney has decided to step down from his post until the end of the investigation.

Sonney, who decided to leave his post following a report prepared after a victim's allegation against him, temporarily left his post "in order not to interfere with the investigations".

The diocese also announced the suspension of a priest in the canton of Neuchatel who was named in the allegations.

Jean Cesar Scarcella, the abbot of the Saint-Maurice regional monastery named in the allegations, resigned in September.

ZURICH UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS EXAMINE SEXUAL ABUSE DOCUMENTS

Researchers from the University of Zurich, commissioned by the Swiss Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Church, had analyzed confidential documents collected by the church and published since the 1950s.

After nearly a year of work, the researchers found that there had been 1002 cases of sexual abuse in the Swiss Catholic Church since the mid-20th century.

In the study, it was stated that almost all of the sexual abuses were committed by adult men, while three-quarters of these cases involved minors and 30 percent of sexual abuse cases occurred in schools and homes.

Prof. Monika Dommann and Prof. Marietta Meier, who conducted the study, emphasized in a statement that "the detected cases are the tip of the iceberg".