(CNN) — Catholic bishops in the Netherlands have announced an independent investigation into allegations of child abuse by clergy, widening a scandal that touches countries including the United States, Ireland, Germany and Austria.

Dutch church leaders “are deeply moved by the gripping accounts of sexual abuse that have come to light in recent days. Any form of sexual abuse deserves to be heavily condemned,” the bishops said in a statement Tuesday.

The bishops turned to a Protestant politician to lead the inquiry: former education minister Wim Deetman, who is also a former mayor of The Hague, Radio Netherlands Worldwide reported Tuesday.

The station broke the story of the alleged abuse of boys by Catholic priests at a boarding school in the Netherlands in the 1960s and 1970s. Hundreds of other reports of abuse flowed in after the story appeared on radio and in the NRC Handelsblad newspaper, Radio Netherlands said.

A top Vatican spokesman Tuesday said the church was reacting appropriately to accusations across western Europe.

READ MORE:  http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/10/netherlands.catholic.abuse/

The Vatican says the church was reacting appropriately to accusations across western Europe.