The Catholic church is telling newly appointed bishops that it is “not necessarily” their duty to report accusations of clerical child abuse and that only victims or their families should make the decision to report abuse to police.
A document that spells out how senior clergy members ought to deal with allegations of abuse, which was recently released by the Vatican, emphasised that, though they must be aware of local laws, bishops’ only duty was to address such allegations internally.
“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 guidelines were written by a controversial French monsignor and psychotherapist, Tony Anatrella, who serves as a consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Family. The Vatican released the guidelines – which are part of a broader training programme for newly named bishops – at a press conference earlier this month and is now seeking feedback.
Oh, well I have some feedback for the Catholic church.
Fuck you!
In my current job, and many of the jobs I have had in the past, I am mandated to report ALL instances of child abuse, sexual or otherwise, that I might witness, hear about, or suspect.
The reason for that is because I work with children, and work with others who work with children.
However in my opinion ALL adults should consider themselves mandated to report child abuse, because WE are the ones who children relay on to keep them safe.
That is our job. Period!
So my question is the following. How does an organization which advertises itself as being the very foundation for morality justify allowing children to be victimized while they stand by and do nothing?
It seems the only "sin" is getting caught.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me this would make the Bishops an accessory after the fact and possibly also guilty of obstructing justice. Maybe a lawyer should have written these guidelines instead of a psychotherapist?
DeleteHas anyone checked Monsignor Anatrella's history?
ReplyDeleteTHIS is some sick stuff.
My thoughts exactly. He wrote this to cover his own ass.
DeleteU.S. law overrides any Vatican wishes. It's probably time to add some legislation regarding religious leaders who shirk their responsibilities toward those they presume to 'lead'.
ReplyDeleteTime to take away their tax exemptions.
Deletethen their money
DeleteHow are they NOT mandated reporters? I think the US states might have something else to say about that, or at least I would hope so. Enough religious exemptions when it comes to the welfare of children. This is bullshit. The Duggar girls are another example of this.
ReplyDeleteAgain, and I know money was part of the decision, but a big 'thanks Mom' for getting me out of Catholic schooling by age 12, before they could damage my head with guilt about both my orientation and my basic human right to enjoy a zesty, satisfying sex life. Your greater trust in your own wisdom and instinct saved me who-knows what untold grief.
ReplyDeleteLove this!
DeleteI was forced to attend 12 years of catholic school.
DeleteAs a 57 year old recovering alcoholic, I'm still dealing with the bullshit I was fed as fact all those years ago.
Gryphen, you're being very unreasonable. If they reported EVERY single instance of sexual abuse against innocent children they'd have no time left for the their real job which is advocating for an imaginary old man who lives in the sky and forgives priests for sexually abusing innocent..
ReplyDeleteAhhh...
Ok, I get it now.
Never mind.
Our priest read a letter from our Bishop telling parishioners to FIRST go to the civil authorities, and then to the church authorities. The exact opposite of what you're saying, and this was read to every congregation in the entire Diocese. They're not fooling around. Police first, then come to us.
ReplyDeleteThat's not the "exact opposite" -- it's the same. The church is shifting the entire job of reporting onto families. The clear message "If you come to us the church, we may not (won't) report to civil authorities." The problem with this is that priests and bishops very often know more about who's being molested than the parents do -- children are frightened and ashamed (or even threatened by the molesters) and don't tell their parents. This is utter bullshit -- once again the church is protecting its abusers at the expense of children.
DeleteYou can add Mormons into that, 5:52 AM. Such abuse runs rampant, see golden boy Jared of "Subway" fame, but especially in religion.
DeleteDon't preach to me your "godliness" when you are anything but, and ruining innocent children who WILL deal with their lives because of your pervish desires.
Anon @ 5:52 You are correct in every way. While lip service is being paid and the Church is absolved from wrongdoings, the burden once again shifted to the victims, i. e. "we cannot do anything about our clergy being tempted, so it up to those who suffer from our fallacies to... BlahBlahBlah!"
DeleteQuite simply, the church could end its wholesale rape of children by turning every single accused abuser over to civil authorities for investigation. That it chooses not to do so even now -- while lamely attempting to improve its image by telling victims to go to the cops -- speaks volumes about which people the church values and whose lives it's willing to throw away.
DeleteI honestly don't know how anyone can remain part of this house of horrors. It literally REFUSES to stop protecting priests who fucking rape children! How can anyone be associated with that?
I can add a big "Amen" to including the LDS Church. too. In the James Adams, Jr case, I was called to give a deposition testifying to the Church leaders' pattern of behaviour in covering up the crimes. Let's just say it came from personal knowledge in my own family's case.
Deletehttp://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/17/us/mormon-leaders-in-west-virginia-accused-in-suit-on-child-abuse.html
OT
ReplyDeletePossibly the saddest headline of the entire 2016 Presidential campaign, so far:
"Jeb Bush: Trump attacking 'because he fears me'"
Is it really an "attack", JEB!? Or was it something more like a "flick"? Cuz it looked a lot more like a flick so it was probably just a flick, bless your heart. Would you like a cookie?
Poor baby, and now that clutching pearls mommy didn't do anything for him, he trots out big brother. "Sometimes the strongest is the quietest."
DeleteGo HOME, Georgie Porgie, and paint while the rest of us continue to suffer from your "legacy."
When I was a kid I was an altar boy at the church next to the Catholic school that I went to. After one mass I served at the priest, who was a visiting Italian priest, asked me to help him remove his cassock. After doing that, he informed me to keep going with his underwear.
ReplyDeleteI believe my comment to him was "you can take your own fucking clothes off!" At that point I left the Sacristy, went to the altar boys locker, changed and went home. I figured I'd get in trouble for the obscenity (though I was fairly well known to be a bit of a wild child at the time), but I really wasn't that concerned.
The next day I was called down into the Principal's office to speak with Monk. Monk was our nickname for the Monseigneur who, besides being the Principal, was also the pastor of that church next door.
Monk informed me that I had been found to be responsible for some graffiti someone had left on the side of the school recently, and that I was being summarily expelled.
Dear Catholic Church: I have never looked back – not once. And to the Bishops I still say; "You can take your own fucking clothes off!"
I wasn’t exactly traumatized by this event, though it was a pain to switch schools, it probably worked out to my benefit because the public schools I would end up at had far better teachers and resources.
Though this happened almost 50 years ago, this is the first time I’ve ever so much as mentioned it, and will probably be the last time, too, also.
Anonymous 6:34 AM, thank you for telling a story that needed to be told. Gryphen, thank you for providing an environment in which he felt able to do so.
DeleteYou never told your family what had happened and why you were being expelled?
DeleteI've got more for you. RCC 8th grade, Sister Alma asked all the girls in the class to stay after during recess so she could check our bra sizes. Yep, you heard that right Same nun beat the shit out of a girl with closed fists in class in front of everyone. The girl ran out the back door and around the building (school had doors that opened to the ourdoors) Gril ran back into the class, whole class locked the doors and called her dad from the phone inside the classroom. Dad, HUGE donor to RCC, called the bishop, nun gone before the end of the day. Noe one single set of parents believed any of the 25 kids in the class about her abuse until she went off the rails.
DeleteRCC High school, Father K got blow jobs from the pretty girls for A's in marriage class. Nice work if you can get it No one believed this one either.
RCC COllege, Father C chased my room mate all over our dorm (we had a priest in an all female dorm... real smart that one) trying to rape her until she hid in the laundry room. Her dad, not a RCC at all, called the cops, priest gone by the end of the day. Back to NYC in some other college.
That's just ONE person who has all those wonderful experiences and impressions of the RCC.
Fuck them, fuck that idiot pope, and fuck anyone who donates one dime or second to this unholy CULT.
We recently went back to my husbands hometown, first time in something like 30 years. He wanted to visit all his old 'digs', including the catholic school he went to. He had told ma some stories that I would rather not retell, and I actually asked him why he wanted to go there. But he needed some type of closure, I guess.
DeleteLo and behold, the same priest that was there thirty-some years ago, was still there. I could not believe when he tried to make a pass at my husband - with me present! My husband smacked his hands off of himself, and swore at him and we went away.
Wait. Did ya all read that little pocket constitution of obstructionist guidelines and wrights under the propaganda machine?
ReplyDeleteImagine the state superintendent of schools advising principals and teachers that it isn't their "duty" to report sexual abuse of students.
ReplyDeleteI hear some folks - on the right - declaring that most of the problems of today come directly from "taking God out of the classroom."
...tell that to all the children that have been molested in church.
I was raised Catholic, haven't practiced a single day of the religion my adult life. When my Grandma, who went to mass EVERYDAY, was on her death bed the priest told her she was going to hell because her children and grandchildren were not in church with her everyday. That was the final nail for me in the fuck you coffin
ReplyDeleteMore news on this subject:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/02/15/papal-commission-bishops-must-report-sex-abuse-charges/
By Crux Staff
February 15, 2016
A commission created by Pope Francis to advise him in the fight against child sexual abuse has reiterated that Catholic bishops have “a moral and ethical responsibility” to report suspected abuse to civil authorities.
The statement comes amid controversy over a Vatican training course for new Catholic bishops around the world held in September 2015, in which French Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a psychologist known for his views on homosexuality and “gender theory,” told bishops they had no obligation to report abuse charges to law enforcement.
Anatrella argued that the decision to report should be up to victims and their families, and that while bishops have the right to inform police and other public authorities, they are not required to do so under Church law.
However, in a strongly worded statement Monday, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, a body created by Pope Francis in 2014 and led by Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, insisted that Catholic officials should make such reports.
The commission includes a cross-section of the Church’s leading experts on the detection and prevention of child sexual abuse, including an Irish abuse survivor.
“As Pope Francis has so clearly stated, ‘The crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must not be kept secret for any longer. I pledge the zealous vigilance of the Church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all’,” the statement said.
Techgnome 8:00 AM quoted: However, in a strongly worded statement Monday, the Pontifical Commission … insisted that Catholic officials should make such reports.
DeleteIt's a start. Here's hoping that it has some effect.
SEX, BULLYing and UNTAXED MONEY$$$. That is the tenet of religion! Religion ABSOLVEs everything and EVERYBODY.
ReplyDeleteSo, Gryphen, since you are required to report childabuse that you suspect/witness/hear about: have you reported the PayMe family for their abuse of Trig? Have you reported Barstool for her mental abuse of Tripp?
ReplyDeleteWhat happened when you reported those instances?
He isn't required to report child abuse or neglect. Even if he is a mandated reporter (if he's still a teacher), he's not required to report suspected abuse or neglect that occurs outside his professional capacity.
DeleteWrong again Spanky.
DeleteAs for 8:58, reporting for mental abuse or neglect is a lot harder than for physical abuse. Lack of evidence.
However I did have a conversation with OCS employees years ago about the wild ride and they said that since there were no obvious signs that anything had happened to Trig as a result that there was nothing they could do.
That was a while ago, these days everybody seems to realize that she lied about the birth.
What's the wild ride? Flight from Texas to Alaska?
DeleteThanks for answering me, Gryphen. Inguess I could have guessed their answer. Even though there is photographic evidence of non-therapy and even video evidence. But those guys simply want to close their eyes and ears. "Nananana... I don'r hear you and I don't see anything!"
DeleteOk, stop me here for a second, but why do they keep hiring guys that want to bugger little boys? Wouldn't it be easier to just run an organization that isn't infested with pedophiles?
ReplyDeleteI mean, maybe there could be some sort of test prior to being hired as a priest, perhaps a background check, some psychological profiling that would ferret out those with this illness and find them unsuitable for the job? Those already hired who are found to be criminal fucking pedophiles could maybe be fired? In the private sector we call this "cleaning house" and sometimes we do it for even lesser offenses than having sex with innocent little children.
It's almost as if this pedophilia is an institutional norm within the church and instead of trying to create a "buggery-free environment" they just throw their hands up and say, "well, priests are gonna bugger, that's what they do, it's what they've always done, whaddya gonna do"?
This should not be business as usual, yet for this religious organization, yes a fucking religious organization, it is very much business as usual, in fact, it is so predetermined that their priests are all a bunch of child-diddling freaks that they have to write procedures on how to deal with it.
Yes, private sector companies have sexual harassment guidelines and procedures in place, however, private sector workers weren't hired because they made a pact with GOD to remain celibate and be married to him and only him for fucking EVER! We're just people, these priests, they're not just people, they are instruments of GOD and yet being prone to buggery urges is seemingly a natural part of their makeup. Huh?
For fuck's sake. If any corporation in the private sector had the sort of blanket issue where a high percentage of the workers are sexual deviants you can bet your ass that company would be run out of business, but instead, people don't boycott, people don't find another religion, people just keep visiting these freaks, trying to find personal salvation, while their children are being raped.
Color me very confused...
The only people who want to be Catholic Priests are young men who were raised Catholic from the cradle and expect to never marry a woman. That weeds out a lot of regular folk.
DeleteStill, there should be pre-employment testing to weed out those that have pre-existing trends towards pedophilia.
DeleteThat being said, perhaps this tendency manifests once they are already hired, perhaps there is something in the church environment that invites this or nurtures these feelings, or the kind of person that would choose a life of god and celibacy is also the type of person who rapes young boys. Cause/effect, linked personality traits?
I don't have any answers but for an organization whose sole goal is to provide soul salvation they certainly do a lot of harm.
Pedophiles seek out other pedophiles. They create circles that reinforce, mutually hide and perpetuate the sickness.
DeleteAdd to that the fact that the Roman Catholic Church is bleeding clergy and can't fill the spots, and you have a recipe for disaster. They will literally take almost anyone at this point.
Ironically, allowing priests to marry (males marrying females; the church, sadly,
doesn't and will probably never recognize same-sex marriage) would do a lot to alleviate the problem, but not for the incorrect reason often stated. Pedophiles are pedophiles and allowing them approved sexual access to other adults doesn't make them not be pedophiles. However, a large influx of priests having healthy adult sex with their spouses would do a lot to break up the sick pedophile ring that is the priesthood -- abusers would no longer be able to lurk in the shadows surrounded by other abusers. The whole priestly culture of "society's losers" would change.
You know, legally they may be correct within certain confines of their church. OTOH, there are laws about mandatory reporting, and the people working directly with the victims are legally obligated to report it under the terms of their license to practice whatever it is that they're making their $$$ from (teaching, healing, etc...) It shouldn't even get to the Bishop before it gets to the police.
ReplyDeleteHaving survived a Roman Catholic Education, relatively unscathed, in essence, they're saying nothing's changed. When Pope Francis visited a prison on his visit to the states, they had a pedophile priest moved from Curren Fromhold Prison BEFORE the visit, not to cause any "discomfort" for the Pope.
ReplyDeleteAbout half way down, it's a long article, but his name was Monsignor Lynn. This was the only link I could find, but it's a sickening read and reeks of hypocrisy.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20150928_Francis_meets_abuse_victims__vows_accountability.html
Nothing changed, nothing will change, it's all show. The Archbishop spoke of reconciliation and forgiveness. How about those who killed themselves? Nicey Nicey is fine, but what about them? Their families?
The Archdiocese had a database online, it was sickening to see them shuffled around and not reported.
Gryphen - the Catholic Church is not too happy about the exposure! It actually started in Alaska! 2003!
ReplyDeleteGovernor Frank Murkowski reversed the statute of limitations on rape! Native communities came forward! Then it went to the lower 48 Catholic Churches then it went to the Vatican! Now how the hell did that happen...smirk!