Responses Summary
Responses by the Catholic Church to Clergy Child Abuse \n Summary Notes
| Stance 1 | Details of Response | Effect on Challenge |
|---|---|---|
| indifferent/ignorance | Having been informed of individual clergy’s abusive behaviour, Bishops allowed them to continue in their current role/parish. While fellow Priests (and many within the Parish community) were aware of such behaviour, it was either ignored or actively denied. | nothing -> worsened the problem |
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| Stance 2 | Details of Responses | Effect on Challenge |
|---|---|---|
| Against -reasons for stance includepersistence of behaviour growing numbers of complaints increasing public awareness of offending behaviour growing voices of victim support groups criminal charges being brought against perpetrators criminal & civil litigation royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse | Relocation of Clergy - (I)often to alternative and remote Parish -> done to separate the victim and abuser + preventing the growing awareness of perpetrator (typically within the same diocese) Evidence “priest and religious were moved. The parishes or communities to which they were moved know nothing of their past” (Gail Furness, Opening address to the 50th Public hearing of the RCIRSAC 2017) | the least effective as it did not correct behaviour, allowed more access to children |
| Temporarily remove clergy from active ministry (I) sick leave - priest were then returned after extended ‘sick leave’ | still does not address behaviour | |
| permanently removing clergy from active ministry 1: retirement -> generally requested by local Bishops 2: De-frock(ing) -> remove from activity ; enacted by local bishops (not allowed to give mass + participate in clergy duties) 3: remove ‘priestly state’ -> process undertaken by Rome to renounce their priesthood, no longer a priest (e.g Gerald Risdale) intended outcome- to remove the perpetrators from victims and any potential victims, negates their access from children and saves the churches reputation | very effective as it prevents access to children - however it was done too late + does not address the individual needs of victims | |
| Offer victims private negotiations due to private nature of such negotiations, little evidence is available to substantiate the scope of these payments1-> pastoral intent (usually meant families wanted an apology emotional/social support -> ongoing counselling) 2-> financial intent (some sort of payment for damages done and or treatment going forward)limited to amount offered by church + accompanied by non- disclosure requirement E.g[a] - Melbourne response (more Financial based) + National Scheme “Towards healing” (more pastoral based)intended outcome: | an attempt to silence the victims instead of correcting behaviour however it does provide some recognition of the cost of damage | |
| Treatment programssending offending priests to ‘treatment centers’ -> these centres were predominantly targeting the notion of homosexuality | trying to attempt to correct behaviour | |
| developed localised protocollocal church communities developed protocols for responding to allegation (1988) intended outcome: establish national processes to deal with allegations centralized reporting, streamline the previous ad-hock state by state and diocese by diocese system + create consistency of process for taking and dealing with reports intended outcome: | purely an agency to deal with reports and unify the practise of different diocese (a centralized form of process + central body) | |
| Localised settlement agenciesonce cases were reported to local bishops, victims were offered two sources of settlement - Pastoral and CivilPastoral settlement involved Diocesean- based authorities offering audiences, apologies and ongoing support to victims and their families EvidencePathways Victoria (2022) has been established to manage the pastoral response to victims and the Australian Catholic Redress Scheme | from a victims point it does address their needs however it does not manage the said behaviour itself | |
| Establish localised professional standardslocal church communities developed professional standards against which clergy were to be assessedAustralian Church: National committee for professional standards (1997 - 2019) which was to change its name to the Australian Catholic centre for professional standards (2019 - 2020) intended outcome:to articulate | ||
| Investigative report into one localityin the wake of the boston globe exposure of clergy sex abuse of children within the local diocese, Rome decided to undertake an internal investigation In 2004 Rome commissioned report into the UScontext (1950-1970) Findings: 4000+ accused priests; 10,000+ child victims(mostly boys) | ||
| localised register for clergyin 2016 the Australian Catholic church established a centralised register for all active clergy: Australian Catholic Ministry Register intended outcome:current listing of clergy and male religious currency of registration and working with Children (WWC) checks (assumes that individual are charged and go through the legal processes) | ||
| localised removal of clergy from school management systemsIn Australia, clergy have been actively removed from management roles within Diocesan schoolswhere prior to 2019 Catholci parish schools came under the managerial leadership of the local parish. | effectively removes priests from positions of influence from schools | |
| establishment of international reporting processes2019 Pope Francis called a summit to discuss with bishops the current state of the clergy abuse crisis intended outcome-to create clear and consistent process throughout the global church community-to involve local policing authorities in this reporting process | ||
| changes to Canon law pope publicly condemns all forms of child sexual abuse sexual abuse of minors was put under a new section titled “offences against human life, Dignity and Liberty |
Least effective: The least effective response was the relocation of clergy, although the intended outcome was to remove the perpetrators from their victims; this response was rendered ineffective when priests were forced to relocate again due to their continued behaviour, as exemplified in the Ballarat context (case study 28). The continuous movement of priests across the Diocese saw the continuation of clergy’s inappropriate behaviour and exposed the systematic nature of the issue as local Bishops continued to cover up the actions of re-offending priests without any attempt to correct immoral behaviour. This response not only saw more victims as a result of moving known perpetrators but also highlighted how the church hierarchy allowed the perpetuation of the abuse. Although deemed to be a response against the issue, the overall inefficiency and further damage caused deems this response to stem from a place of indifference and even ignorance as the immoral and criminal behaviour of clergy is never addressed nor corrected. The extent in which priests were moved around in order to avoid public awareness placed emphasis on maintaining the church's image over the wellbeing of the victims.
Most effective: Although some responses were more effective than others in terms of expressing the Church's disapproval of the inappropriate behaviour of clergy, in reality no singular response effectively addresses the need for the correction of the immoral and criminal behaviour perpetrated, care for victims wellbeing and prevention of the issue in the first place. The most effective responses work in conjunction in dealing with all three aspects of the issue. The alteration on Canon law
Effect of responses:
| positive effect of responses on the Catholic religious traditions:globally placed a spotlight on individuals and collective behaviour of those n the Church leadership - for both catholics and the world to see forced church leadership in Rome to articulate changes to canon law condemning and outlawing the abuse of children by clergy (and all staff) within the global church globally, saw many offending clergy removed not only from active ministry from the clerical rank of the priesthood itself forced church leadership locally to create and implement of professional standard, WWz and registration | Negative effect of responses of Catholic religious traditions:ineffective responses lead to more and more victims being offended against over time physical, psychology, and spiritual damage loss of confidence in the clergy by many Catholics non- offending clergy called into question due to their peers crimes widespread scepticism about the Global churches willingness and ability to change in terms of : institutional clericalism + probable contributing practises such as requirement of clergy celibacy possible contributing factor to diminishing numbers of community members |
|---|---|
| positive effect of responses on wider society the strengthening of public opinion in rejecting abusive behaviour and affirmation of the rights of victims regardless of position and status of perpetrators the empowerment of individual victims and families by those in the broader community supporting their plight for truth and justice the affirmation of truth telling by agencies and individuals in the broader community the formation of survivor groups that promoted investigation, truth -telling and advocacy for victims rights | negative effect of responses on wider societybrought the reputation of the church as a community of the people of God - into global disrepute utter de-valuing of the institution of the catholic priesthood by the wider community undermined the reputation of christ and God through the lack of timely and effective responses initiated by the church itself (it has negatively impacted society in terms of widening the chasm between secular society and the vision) the church has other charitable organisations and the distrust of society negates the assistance provided |
[a]Both ran concurrently approx. established 1997