CNN 2010-04-08

Hi, Kyra. Yes, and it's not only victims of the church actually wants to call its hotline, it also believes that some priests might call the hotline themselves.

It is of course anonymous¹, to basically report themselves and say that they have things like pedophiliac thoughts. Now what's been going -- going on so far in the first day that this hotline has been on air, Kyra, is that apparently² there have actually been a flood of calls.

The church says that they thought they were going to get about 160 to 200 calls for all of Germany. They say so far they have gotten more than 4,000 calls to that hotline. They say their hotline is swamped. They say they can't keep up.

They said at some stages the hotline actually broke down and they said that people were reporting alleged³ abuses that hadn't been reported before, things that happened in eastern Germany, things that happened that simply had not even been thought about talking about before.

So certainly, so far, the church says that this hotline, if you will, is drawing a lot of attention from people. They say many, many people have tried calling multiple times and simply could not get through because so many people were trying, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I mean I have a feeling this is just going to be the tip of the iceberg⁴. So two more quick questions. Any critics out there to this hotline? Anyone think this is a bad idea?

PLEITGEN: Yes, there's a lot of people that think this is a bad idea. A lot of people are actually saying that people should not call this hotline. One of those organizations is actually called SNAP, which is a victim's rights organization from the U.S. And that's even issued a press statement urging people not to call this hotline.

They believe that what the church is trying to do with this hotline is trying to cover up the abuses that happens within its ranks over the past decades. And they also say that the other thing the church is trying to do is keep these abuses away from criminal investigators⁵ and from criminal justice authorities.

That's one of the main criticisms that we're hearing. What people are saying, some of them, is that they believe that people who have been abused by priests should very simply go to the police and report this. Go to a lawyer and report this. And not report it to the organization where the people come from that actually abuse them.

So certainly there are a lot of critics here within Germany. Also a lot of victims' rights organizations that are saying the exact same things. So there are a lot of critics out there. Nevertheless, the church said it's simply being swamped by calls right now -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Well, it'll be interesting to see if the church opens up such a hotline here in the U.S.

 

1 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

5 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》