ROME (ITALY)
Daily Beast
October 4, 2018
By Barbie Latza Nadeau
At a time when systematic child sex abuse at the hands of Catholic priests has scandalized the global church, it may seem like warning priests not to get naked with children would go without saying. But that’s clearly not the case in Chile, where there are more than 120 active investigations into clerical sex abuse and where all of the country’s bishops offered their resignations en masse to Pope Francis.
Because of such demonstrable problems, but obviously with little thought for appearances, Santiago Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati released detailed guidelines this week for local priests that suggests more than a few recurrent issues. Among them, priests should not “give hugs that are too tight, slap the buttocks, touch the area of the genitals or the breast, or recline or sleep with children or adolescents.”
The document also urges priests not to take pictures of children who are nude or in the shower, and not to “fight or play games that involve touching yourself in an inappropriate way.” The authors add that clergy should not to “give massages, hug from behind, kiss the mouth of children, adolescents, or vulnerable people” and to avoid all behaviors that can be “misinterpreted.”
The nine-page Instrumentum Laboris, or working document, which was released in Spanish on the archdiocese website and called “Guidelines Promoting Good Treatment and Healthy Pastoral Coexistence,” was immediately criticized by support groups for those who were abused by priests as tone-deaf and indicative of an utter lack of understanding when it comes to the root causes of clerical sex abuse and its widespread cover-up.
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