A German bishop says he is taken aback at the scope of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic church of Pope Benedict XVI's native Bavaria.
Bavarian Bishop Ludwig Schick of Bamberg told Bayerischer Rundfunk radio Tuesday he had not expected so many cases.
He said, "it is bitter and it is hard, but it has to be dealt with."
Schick is hosting a meeting of all Bavarian Bishops at Vierzehnheiligen from Tuesday through Thursday.
The Bishop called for a crackdown, saying "this festering blister needs to be opened up and dried in order for it to heal."
Schick said in an earlier interview with the church's own Web radio the statute of limitations for abuse should be changed so that the courts could deal with it and make the debate more rational.
