Pope Benedict XVI is to meet with Germany's top bishop amid the spiraling abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church in his homeland.
Bishop Robert Zollitsch has apologized to German victims and promised to cooperate with prosecutors. But he and the Vatican have also insisted that sexual abuse of children isn't a problem specific to the Catholic Church.
Some 170 former students from German Catholic schools have come forward with claims of physical and sexual abuse, including at an all-boys choir once led by the pope's brother.
Benedict hasn't commented on the German scandal and no Vatican statement was planned after Friday's meeting. He decried sex abuse as a "heinous crime" after meeting with Irish bishops last month.
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