The full scale of the clerical abuse scandal in Germany continues to unfold.

Since allegations against members of the Jesuit Order began to surface at the renowned private Catholic Canisius Kolleg in Berlin in January, the number of former Jesuit students coming forward to allege clerical abuse has grown to 120. There have also been allegations of rape among other accusations levelled against 12 named priests. Of this number, three have admitted abusing students in their care during the 1970s and '80s.

The number of schools involved has also increased as the investigation widens, to include Jesuit institutions in Hamburg, St Blasien in southern Germany and Hildesheim near Hanover.

The lawyer appointed to act on behalf of the Jesuit Order, Ursula Raue said the case had taken on ''unbelievable proportions'' since the first reports.

Something of a familiar pattern has also become evident in the investigation, with accusations against priests being covered up and offending teachers being moved to other areas.

In one case, a Jesuit - who denies abuse - persuaded police not to investigate a knife attack on him by a former pupil who later committed suicide. The same priest was the subject of at least one complaint to his local bishop involving inappropriate behaviour with a minor as far back as 1993.

In her own trawl through Jesuit files, Raue revealed that she had ''not come across any indication of a concern for the welfare of the children''.

Gathering for a four-day meeting in Freiburg this week, the head of the German Bishops' Conference offered an apology to victims. ''Trust was abused in a heinous way and destroyed,'' Archbishop Robert Zollitsch said. ''Abuse in the Church hits particularly hard because of the trust placed in priests around children and youths.''

Hong Kong

Sixty graves are desecrated

An act of desecration at a Catholic cemetery has left island residents shocked.

Some 60 graves at the Cemetery of St Michael in Happy Valley were attacked, the first such action at the cemetery. Headstones and family photographs were damaged in the attack.

Fr Edward Chau King-fun of the local Holy Spirit Seminary College said the actions were shocking in a culture that respects the dead and their resting places.

''In Chinese culture,'' he explained, ''damaging a grave is a grave offence, a humiliation for the ancestors and their families. Respect for graves is considered an act of filial piety towards the same ancestors.

Police are investigating.

Iraq

Four Christians are murdered

The possibility of all Christians fleeing the city of Mosul has become more real with the murders of four members of the community in as many days.

Archbishop Amil Shamaaoun Nona of Mosul has revealed that Christians have already begun to leave as a result of the spate of murders, with 10 families departing on a single day last week.

''It is panic,'' the archbishop said. ''The Christians don't know what will happen to them. It is the same everywhere: in the office, at school or even at home. They don't know if somebody is going to kill them.''

Lebanon

Religions join for joint holiday

Legislators in the country have agreed to make March 25, the feast of the Annunciation of Mary, a joint Islamic-Christian national holiday.

The decision to make the date a national holiday is intended to be a unifying day under the figure of Mary, who is revered by both Christians and Muslims.

Future celebrations of the national day may well centre on a portion of land in Museum square in Beirut where it is envisaged an image of the Virgin Mary against a crescent moon will be created.

Mexico

Priest murdered during robbery

A priest has been killed during the course of a robbery.

Fr José Luis Parra Puerto died at a petrol station when thieves attacked him and demanded his van. When he resisted, he was shot in the head and was driven away by his assailants. His body was discovered in the abandoned vehicle the following day.

A spokesman for the Church in Mexico condemned the attack as ''a sacrilegious crime'' and called for ''a rigorous investigation'' to catch the priest's killers.