After the injuries

“Each child has a right to its own physical, psychological, sexual and spiritual integrity. Any violation of this integrity by sexual abuse” represents “a negation of the dignity of man”. It is therefore “the task” of the Church “to accompany those who, after having suffered an abuse, are seeking comfort, assistance and justice from her”. So says the introduction to the recently published document “Sexual abuse of children. Directives for those with pastoral responsibility (priests, deacons and laity)”, a kind of “manual” of the Bishops’ Conference of Belgium. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Holland, the attempt of the founders of the movement “Love for our neighbour, freedom and diversity” (NVD) – committed to the legalization of child pornography – to collect the 570 signatures needed to be able to present themselves as a party at the general elections on 22 November has ended in failure. In Ireland, too, the bishop of Elphin, the Right Rev. Christopher Jones, has declared the “protection of children” a “pastoral priority”. “For many years now – said the bishop in recent days – the protection of children has represented a pastoral priority for the Irish bishops; a process in which a milestone was the publication in December 2005” of the document “Our children, our Church – Policies and procedures for the Catholic Church in Ireland”. “Thanks to the diocesan Committee for the protection of children”, continued the bishop of Elphin, “we can now announce our policy on the matter”. We present below a summary of the main contents of the document of the Bishops’ Conference of Belgium. PRINCIPAL AND SECONDARY VICTIMS. The Belgian bishops explain the document as “pages written in the light of the Gospel and of Jesus’ solicitude for children and the most vulnerable”. It is aimed “at those who hold pastoral responsibilities for the community of the faithful in Belgium – professionals or volunteers – in parishes, schools, in healthcare services, in prisons or in youth ministry”. By “sexual abuse on children”, explains the document, is meant “a form of sexual violence within a relation of dependence” in which “the adult exploits his own ascendancy over the child to force it to undergo or undertake sexual acts”. The child as such, and equally a “mentally handicapped person”, explain the bishops, “is unable to give his/her own free and conscious consent” to relationships of this type that “may take place inside or outside the family” and that have as their “secondary victims the persons closest” to the abused child. RE-ESTABLISHING TRUST. The document recommends “respect, solicitude, compassion and loving-kindness for the victims who ask help from a person with pastoral responsibilities”. They “wish first and foremost to be heard”. They seek “a process of healing for their whole person, able to reassemble its pieces at the physical, psychological, spiritual and religious level”. The pastoral assistance of these victims must therefore try “first of all to restore trust and help them to overcome the sense of guilt and grief for what they have suffered”. For, explain the bishops, the victims of abuse “often have a negative image of themselves and end up by shutting themselves off from others in a spiral of self-isolation”; it is therefore important for the interlocutor “to strike the right balance between remoteness and intimacy”, so that the victim “may feel free but at the same time not abandoned”. PASTORAL SPECIFICITY. “The Church – continues the document – is disturbed and saddened by these events”, and “regrets them even more when the perpetrator of the violence exercises an ecclesial function”, thus “shaking trust in the Church herself”. In alleviating the grief, “a process that takes place at the psychological and social but also religious level”, the “pastoral specificity – explain the bishops – consists in restoring the living relation with God: He who has engraved each person in the palm of his hand”. Those who “accompany” the victims of abuse the document need “specific skills”, “ongoing training” and “counselling” from experts. In some cases, explain the bishops, it is necessary to refer the victims of abuse to physicians, psychotherapists and/or legal consultants, with whom “a fruitful collaboration” is desirable, albeit in respect for the pastor’s own skills and “professional confidentiality and confession”. The Belgian Church has set up a special Commission for the victims of abuse caused by those who exercise ecclesial functions, and has also announced the setting up of a hotline that guarantees anonymity: 078 15 30 71. One section of the publication is dedicated, finally, to those guilty of abuses: “they too are in need of accompaniment”, because they too have often been “the victims of abuse in the past”, and perhaps, if properly supported, are able to undertake a process of change.