Dozens of children in northern Italy were sexually abused by priests for more than six decades, according to a groundbreaking report commissioned by the Catholic Church.

An independent report prepared for the diocese of Bolzano-Brixen found 67 cases of clerical sexual abuse occurred in the diocese between 1963 and 2023, and priests had abused 59 boys and girls, some as young as eight.

Ivo Muser, the bishop of Bolzano-Brixen, said: “Every case is one too many. We need to have a change in our mentality, a new culture of closeness.”

In a first for Italy, the diocese, which lies in the German-speaking region of South Tyrol on the Austrian border, asked a Munich law firm to conduct an inquiry into the extent of abuse.

“It takes courage to look at the past, but also the present and the future,” Bishop Muser said. “We want the church to be a safe place, especially for children, and young and vulnerable people.”