Did Dutch Catholic Church Castrate Gay Minors to 'Cure' Them?

The Dutch authorities will soon investigate a case from the 1950s where the Dutch Roman Catholic Church allegedly surgically castrated at least 10 boys under the age of 21 in order to "get rid of homosexuality," the U.K. newspaper the Telegraph reported.

The Dutch daily newspaper, NRC Handelsblad, identified one of the victims as Henk Heithuis. Heithuis was castrated when he was 20 (which was considered a minor) in 1956 after he went to the police and claimed that he was sexually abused by Catholic clergy while in a Catholic boarding home.

The investigative journalist who discovered Heithuis' case also found evidence of at least nine other castrations.

"These cases are anonymous and can no longer be traced," Joep Dohmen said. "There will be many more. But the question is whether those boys, now old men, will want to tell their story."

Although two clergymen were convicted of abuse, police still sent Heithuis to a Catholic psychiatric hospital. He was later admitted to the St. Joseph Hospital in Veghel, Netherlands, which is located in the country's southern region.

Two years after he was castrated, Heithuis died in a car crash.

Heithuis' court papers say that he requested to be castrated even though there was no evidence of his written consent. Dohmen's sources said that the procedure involved the surgical removal of the testicles, which was believed to "cure homosexuality" and that it was also a punishment for anyone who accused the church of sexual abuse.

Cornelius Rogg, 79, a well-known Dutch sculptor who was friends with Heithuis claims to have seen Heithui's castration.

"We once asked Henk to drop his pants when the women were gone. He did that. He was maimed totally. It was a huge shock," he told the newspaper.

Wim Deetman, a former Dutch minister, started an official investigation last December and received 1,800 reports of sexual abuse by clergy or volunteers of the Dutch Catholic dioceses since 1945. One of the reports was Hethuis' case, which came from Rogge but it was not investigated further because "there were few leads for further research."

It was also revealed that government inspectors at the time knew that underage boys were being castrated as the inspectors were present when castrations were discussed. Documents also say that the Catholic staff did not think parents needed to be involved.

"I am shocked that boys were being castrated in the 1950s," said Khadija Arib, a Labour MP. "I want an independent investigation. We must find out how many cases there were, who knew about it and why the government did not act."