Response of the bishops

May 2012: that’s the deadline by which each Episcopal Conference shall have to draft and deliver to the Vatican its guidelines for dealing with cases of sexual abuses of minors perpetrated by clerics. The ultimatum – which came with the Circular Letter published on 16 May – is that of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which holds responsibility in this area. The document furnishes general considerations to enable the Church to speak in a coherent and uniform way on this subject, and to act with maximum rapidity. Attention to the victims, programmes of prevention, formation of seminarians, cooperation with the civil authorities: these are the main themes of the Circular Letter. Questioned by journalists about the “state” of sexual abuses within the Church, the Director of the Vatican Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, replied that it’s “a constantly evolving situation”. The English-speaking countries “have long examined the question”, and documents already exist on the question in the USA, England, Wales, Scotland, Malta, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, and Canada. As far as Europe is concerned, the “guidelines” of Germany are “well known” and similar guidelines also exist in Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, and France; Holland, Sweden and Belgium are still “working” on them.Ireland. Reactions to the Circular Letter of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith have been positive. Bishop John McAreavey of Dromore, speaking on behalf of the Irish bishops, declared: “I wholeheartedly welcome today’s important initiative by the Congregation”. “These guidelines – he said – offer assistance in terms of preventing sexual abuses and reporting accusations to the police”. According to the Irish Episcopate, the initiative of the Holy See is aimed at “creating a safe environment for children and young people” and to this end – after the slew of cases of paedophilia that emerged from two government inquiries in Ireland – the Irish Church has equipped itself with a network of volunteers in each parish and ecclesial organization to perform this task at the grassroots level. The publication of the Circular Letter by the Vatican Congregation “underscores the Catholic Church’s ongoing commitment to addressing the very serious issue of child abuse”, said Bishop McAreavey”. The bishop also underlined that “an independent and high quality regulatory agency” – the National Board for Safeguarding Children in Catholic Church – had been established: it “supports the dioceses, religious congregations and missionary societies in their task of monitoring and dealing with accusations”. On 11 May the National Board for Safeguarding Children in Catholic Church presented the annual Report of its activity. The Report’s findings show that between 1st April 2010 and the end of March 2011 a total of 272 new accusations of abuse (physical, emotional and sexual) were reported to the National Board. 166 notifications came from the religious orders and 106 from the dioceses. The Office states that all 272 denunciations were reported to the judicial authorities, while 86 accusations were leveled against deceased clerics or religious. Of the priests or religious accused, 12 are still active in the ministry, while 174 had been removed. The bishops – on that occasion – had said they welcomed “with gratitude” the work performed by the National Board, calling it “of vital importance” for re-establishing “the trust of the Irish people in the Church” after “the tragic and painful errors of the past”.Belgium. The bishops of Belgium have also applauded the Holy See’s Circular Letter “aimed at assisting Episcopal Conferences in developing guidelines for dealing with cases of sexual abuses of minors perpetrated by clerics”. In their press release the bishops appreciate the fact that the Letter begins with some considerations expressing the Church’s attention to the victims of sexual abuse, gives a brief summary of the applicable canonical legislation and delegates to the bishops the task of following up procedures country by country. The Letter – emphasize the bishops of Belgium – “insists on the responsibility of the diocesan bishop to protect minors and help the victims to find assistance, justice and reconciliation. Moreover, the Letter wishes to contribute to the formulation of a common approach within each Episcopal Conference so as to harmonize the efforts of each bishop in the protection of minors”.Italy. Publication of the Circular Letter coincided in Italy with the case of a Genoese priest arrested for sexual abuse and drug trafficking. Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa and chairman of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, went immediately to the priest’s parish to speak with the faithful. The Archbishop expressed his “great sorrow, just like any father who sees a son – just like any priest – who is not faithful to his own vocation”. And he added: “It was my duty and my strong desire, immediately expressed, to visit this injured community, just as the whole diocesan community is injured, to bring my solidarity and comfort, celebrate mass with them and also communicate to them the immediate canonical provision adopted for the parish priest”.