Who's Protecting The Innocent?
Are You A Victim of Abuse?
According to a report by the Associated Press (May 16, 2011), the Vatican told bishops around the world that it was important to cooperate with police in reporting priests who rape and molest children and said they should develop guidelines for preventing sex abuse by next May.
But the suggestions in the letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith are vague and non-binding and contain no enforcement mechanisms to ensure bishops actually draft the guidelines or follow them.
To be honest, I am wondering whether this group should be called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or instead it should be called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faithless. Why should it a take a year to come up with guidelines on how to cooperate with the police? How many centuries have they been in existence for them not to have a single guideline on dealing with criminals?
This is a clear indication that the Catholic church is still not being honest with their commitment to punish the culprits. They are not willing to be accountable for the evil of sexual abuse against innocent children and this letter is simply a dress rehearsal to try and paint a deceiving picture and hash off criticism. How long will the silent screams of innocent children who are at the mercy of these highly respected and shielded evil men, go unheard?
The current standards for reporting cases of child rape and molestation where a priest is involved is left at the discretion of the Bishop to determine which cases are worth reporting to the police and which ones aren't. In some cases, it is left to lay committees to decide the way forward.
How can we leave such a highly sensitive issue to be decided by unprofessional people with no legal training to have the authority to decided what must be reported and what must not? What is wrong with letting the proper courts decide which cases to toss out?
The Associated press further reported that, Amnesty International listed the Vatican in its annual report of global human rights abuses, citing revelations of clerical abuse around the world and the "enduring failure" of the church to address the crimes properly.
"Such failures included not removing alleged perpetrators from their posts pending proper investigations, not co-operating with judicial authorities to bring them to justice and not ensuring proper reparation to victims," Amnesty said in its report.
Here is what I think is critical about this issue:
- The Catholic Church is more concerned about protecting it's decaying image than protecting children. So whatever solution is suggested, it is not in the best interest of the children. They'll continue to shield their in-house criminals.
- Whatever move or gimmick the church tries to make or use, does not in any new way protect the children from being raped and molested today, tomorrow or even in the coming years.
- The church will continue to place more respect on the personal Judgment of the Bishops far beyond any logical or established institution of law. They'll go to lengths in trying to shield their offending peers in order to maintain this respect. No wonder Jesus called them "white washed tombs."
- "Clergymen do not have the skills or expertise to make sound decisions to decide if an allegation is credible: that is a matter for law enforcement and child protection specialists,said Maeve Lewis, executive director of the Irish victims group One in Four." He called the Vatican letter "dangerously flawed.
- The Vatican letter stresses that accused priests are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Therefore, they are left to continue with their practice and resulting in more children are raped and molested while pending investigations, that is, if there is even any credible investigation.
Perhaps, it's time you started thinking twice about taking your children to a Catholic Church, or any other suspicious church for that matter.
If your child or even somebody else's, tells you a some strange story that suggests even slightly the possibility of inappropriate conduct from a priest or nun, please don't dismiss it. Even if it has numerous inconsistencies, let the experts do the dismissing for you. Report the case to the police or a trained child specialist or social worker.
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