UNITED STATES
Huffington Post
Kim Bellware
Reporter, The Huffington Post
As the Catholic church reckons with decades of indifference to clergy abusing children, some followers are finding both their faith and their patience tested.
Catholics world wide are intently watching how the Vatican addresses the issue, while a new controversy has revealed just how far the church has to go in making amends for this dark chapter.
Training guidelines for new bishops prepared by French Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a controversial psychoanalyst and clergy member, include a section that says bishops are not legally obliged to report abuse.
“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,” Anatrella said, according to Crux.
As several reports note, the guidelines were drafted without any input from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, the group created by Pope Francis to highlight “best practices” for stamping out clergy abuse. …
SNAP has been highly critical of the Vatican’s response to child abuse revelations, with Blaine characterizing the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors — made of up both clergy and laypeople — as little more than an empty gesture.
On Tuesday, the commission reportedly tried to oust one of its members, abuse survivor Peter Saunders. Saunders said the commission accused him of being difficult to work with and too open with the media, Reuters reported. Saunders, head of Britain’s National Association for People Abused in Childhood, resisted pressure to step down.
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