The Church reports child abusers

Last Sunday two newspapers reported that our police force has contacted Interpol to help them locate a Maltese priest against whom allegations of child abuse have been made.

This incident brings nearer home the controversy that is raging in several other countries - although one must emphasise that such cases concern only one per cent of clergy in countries concerned. Besides, these allegations concern members of many other groups and professions besides the clergy.

One of the questions that immediately comes to mind is this. If Church authorities have well founded suspicions (naturally as a result of administrative investigations and not a result of pastoral counselling or confession) that an employee of the Church (lay, clerical or religious) has sexually abused a child while executing his duties or on Church property should the same Church authorities report the case to the police?

This is a thorny and difficult question to answer and there are weighty arguments on either side. Church authorities in Malta have established a very serious mechanism to deal with such cases but they still give a negative answer to this question.

Leaders of the Church in several other dioceses give an affirmative answer. While I acknowledge the value of the arguments of those who say "no", I tend to agree with those who are in favour of reporting such cases.

Here is some information about the policies of those dioceses whose position is in favour of reporting such cases.

According to the Catholic News Service the Irish bishops announced on April 8 that they were setting up an independent audit to examine the Church`s response to child abuse allegations. They also said they would grant police and state investigators access to diocesan personnel files relating to allegations of sexual abuse.

A similar position is now the official policy of the bishops of England and Wales. They had set up an independent Review on Child Protection, chaired by Lord Nolan.

The Nolan report was published last September and approved by the bishops of England and Wales at their November meeting. It is available at www.nolanreview.-org.uk .

Recommendation 53 states: "Anybody who receives a disclosure should advise the maker of it to share it with the statutory agencies and the Child Protection Co-ordinator as soon as possible and should support him or her in doing so, especially if the maker of the disclosure is a child.

"The person receiving the disclosure should him/herself share it with the statutory agencies and the CPC if s/he believes that it will not otherwise be shared with them."

Last January the press office of the same bishops stated very clearly that child abuse is a crime. The Church`s policies state that any allegations of abuse must be referred to the proper statutory authorities (police/social services).

The Canadian bishops had taken a very strong position after the revelations (in the late Eighties) of widespread sexual abuse by clergy at the Mount Cashel orphanage in Newfoundland.

The Canadian conference of Catholic bishops in 1992 produced "From Pain to Hope," a 92-page report that made 50 recommendations to help eradicate clerical sexual abuse. It was prepared after two years of study.

The Canadian report called on Catholics to "break the silence" and become actively involved in ridding the Church of abusers. It also laid down guidelines for the dioceses to follow, including giving immediate attention to complaints, full co-operation with civil authorities and a prompt offer of support and counselling to alleged victims and their families.

Mgr Peter Schonenbach, general secretary of the Canadian conference of Catholic bishops earlier this year said that Canadian Church leaders will continue to report suspected child abuse by priests to civil authorities, as required by law.

The five principles

The country where controversy is the hottest at the moment is the USA. The five guiding principles for the US Church`s response to sexual abuse were enunciated at the bishops` general meeting in June 1992 by Archbishop Daniel E. Pilzarczyk of Cincinnati, then president of the bishops` conference:

"Respond promptly to all allegations of abuse where there is reasonable belief that abuse has occurred.

"If such an allegation is supported by sufficient evidence, relieve the alleged offender promptly of his ministerial duties and refer him for appropriate medical evaluation and intervention.

"Comply with the obligations of civil law as regards reporting of the incident and co-operating with the investigation.

"Reach out to the victims and their families and communicate sincere commitment to their spiritual and emotional well-being.

"Within the confines of respect for privacy of the individuals involved, deal as openly as possible with the members of the community."

Over the years different dioceses developed their own guidelines in line with these basic principles and placed greater emphasis on reporting incidents to the police.

In the New England diocese of Springfield a priest who is accused of child abuse is referred to an ad hoc commission. Several members of the diocesan Misconduct Com-mission are mandated reporters under state law because of their profession.

This means that they must report allegations of abuse of minors to the state Department of Social Services, even if they are not asked to do so by the victim.

Bishop Dupre of Springfield said he supports a proposed revision of the law that would add clergy and Church workers to the list of mandated reporters. As proposed, it would make an exception for knowledge received in sacramental confession or spiritual counselling.

Boston`s Cardinal Bernard F. Law in January announced a "zero-tolerance" policy. He ordered that any priest, Church worker or volunteer who hears of an allegation of sexual abuse on a minor must report it to state authorities.

He backed a bill that was introduced in the legislature that would make priests and other Church workers mandatory reporters of child sex abuse allegations. He turned over to county district attorneys more than 80 names of priests with an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor in their past, some going back 40 years or more.

In a letter distributed in all parishes, Bishop Daniel P. Reilly of Worcester said the diocese will begin immediately to require its personnel to report all allegations of abuse of minors to state authorities. The diocese of Fall River since 1993 had been requiring church personnel to report such allegations to the state.

Bishop John B. McCormack of Manchester, New Hampshire, publicly named 14 priests who have admitted such abuse or had "credible allegations" against them and gave their names to the state`s attorney general.

Bishop McCormack`s stand is notable because he is the head of the US bishops` Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse, which provides resources on the issue to all the nation`s bishops.

In Portland, Maine, diocesan officials said they would give a district attorney relevant personnel files of any other living priest or ex-priest of the diocese who had been accused of sexual abuse of a minor any time in the past.

The list can go on and on, but as it is it includes enough food for thought.

Next week I will look at the pros and cons of the position of the leaders of the Church in Malta and Gozo.