Mandatory Reporting of Abuse "Very Clear', Says Catholic Church

Young Herald
February 13, 2016

http://youngherald.com/2016/02/mandatory-reporting-of-abuse-very-clear-says-catholic-church/

Springfield Bishop Mitchell Rozanski distributes ashes at St. Michael's Cathedral.

Keith Porteous Wood, NSS executive director, commented: "It is unfortunately no surprise that these guidelines encourage bishops not to report suspected abuse, rather than obligating them to do so as the United Nations recommended specifically to the Vatican in 2014".

A document that spells out how senior clergy members ought to deal with allegations of abuse, which was recently released by the Vatican, emphasised that, though they must be aware of local laws, bishops' only duty was to address such allegations internally.

As The Crux says, "If the Church is to recover from the abuse scandals, bishops need every tool available, and these courses provide a chance to equip them".

The report claims that church officials believe they are under no legal obligation to report child sex abuse allegations to law enforcement officials; evidently, church officials believe they have no moral imperative to report such allegations either. The guidelines on child abuse was presented to new bishops last September in the annual training course organised by the Congregation for Bishops, Allen noted.

This commission is one of the key elements in Pope Francis's attempts to combat sexual abuse, and their lack of involvement in prevention training is not a good sign.

That includes Francis Sullivan, chief of the Truth, Justice and Healing Commission, which handles the Catholic Church's engagement with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Victims of the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal are reacting angrily to the revelations.

"And the failure to invite representatives from that commission to make a presentation like this - to me that's the real question".

Dr Wayne Chamley, of Broken Rites which advocates for victims of clerical sexual abuse, described the guidelines as "unfathomable".

"They will be gobsmacked that such advice is now given to newly consecrated bishops", he said. However, a spokesman for the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests is criticizing the Bishop's apology, calling it a public relations move.

"The national board delivers training to bishops and provincials which sets this out clearly following their appointment", she said.

"The Vatican tends to err on the side of caution and it tends to be unaware of the kind of situation that we are in the Anglo-American world where the police are to be trusted". If a bishop is made aware of a specific case involving clergy and the molestation of a child, urging the family to report the crime to police simply isn't enough.

The Vatican declined to comment for this story.