“They will not change until they are forced to change. There is no question that mandatory reporting laws need to be expanded to include people who work for religious institutions. They have to be forced to put the welfare of children first.”
Groups representing the victims of paedophile priests have reacted angrily to a Catholic church edict to newly appointed bishops that they are “not necessarily” responsible for reporting allegations of child abuse to the police.
This is unfathomable and yet it does not surprise me.
Dr Wayne Chamley
The instruction, in a new Vatican training manual advising senior clergy on how to respond to allegations of abuse, states that only victims or their families should decide whether to report to authorities, but bishops should be aware of local legal requirements.
“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.
The training guideline was written by French monsignor Tony Anatrella, a consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Family, and released by the Vatican earlier in February.
John Allen, associate editor of Catholic news site Cruxnow.com, described the approach as a “legalistic take on a critical issue” and criticised the guidelines for not putting more emphasis on prevention of sex abuse within the church.
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Complete text and video linked here.
