BERLIN (AP) — A German cardinal is asserting that outrage about the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal is hypocritical, arguing that what happened reflected events in society as a whole.

The church has been shaken over recent years by scandals in several countries, including Germany. A church-commissioned report concluded that at least 3,677 people were abused by clergy in Germany between 1946 and 2014, prompting a top bishop to apologize.

However, in comments to German news agency dpa published Friday, Vatican-based Cardinal Walter Brandmueller was quoted as saying that "society is behaving pretty hypocritically."

Brandmueller added: "What happened in the church in terms of abuse is nothing different from what happens in society in general." He argued the real scandal was that church representatives hadn't been different from the rest of society.