CANADA
The Telegram
One step forward, two steps back.
Child sexual abuse by the clergy is not a problem that Pope Francis created, but it is one he promised to address.
It’s a shame then that not everyone in the church seems to be getting the message.
Tuesday, Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported on details that had been discovered by Cruxnow.com’s John Allen about a training manual for Catholic bishops — most importantly, about how they should handle the discovery of child sexual abuse by clergy.
And the manual is anything but heartening.
In fact, it says that it’s “not necessarily” the job of bishops to inform police of the abuse of children.
“According to the state of civil laws of each country where reporting is obligatory, it is not necessarily the duty of the bishop to report suspects to authorities, the police or state prosecutors in the moment when they are made aware of crimes or sinful deeds,” the training document states.
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