The Catholic Church has not done enough to address the child abuse issue.

My church hierarchy(Catholic) still has not learned a lesson!

Irish abuse survivor Marie Collins has accused the Vatican bureaucracy of “shameful” resistance to fighting clerical sex abuse in the Catholic Church as she quit a key panel set up by Pope Francis.

In a major setback for the pope, Collins announced that she had resigned from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors established by the pontiff in 2013 to counter abuse in the church. 

She said the pope’s decision to create the commission was a “sincere move” but there had been “constant setbacks” from officials within the Vatican.

“There are people in the Vatican who do not want to change or understand the need to change,” Collins said in a telephone interview from Dublin.

“I find it shameful,” Collins said. “The work we want to do is to make children and young adults now and in the future safer in the church environment from the horror of abuse.”

Collins was raped at age 13 by a hospital chaplain in Ireland  She was the only active abuse survivor on the Vatican panel since British survivor Peter Saunders was sidelined last year for his outspoken criticism. Saunders has not resigned or been formally dismissed.

The Catholic church is still 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, emphasized  bishops’ must be aware of local laws, but bishops’ only duty is 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 the moment they are made aware of crimes or sinful deeds,” the training document states.  The training document also says little about preventing the problem in the future and it also downplay the seriousness of the Catholic church’s legacy of systemic child abuse, which some victims’ right groups say continues to be a problem today.

While acknowledging that “the church has been particularly affected by sexual crimes committed against children”, the training guide emphasizes statistics that show the vast majority of sexual assaults against children are committed within the family and by friends and neighbors, not other authority figures.  Why is this fact important to this commission or Catholics.  If one child is abused by a Catholic church official that is one too many and should be taken seriously by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.  It seems to me they are more concerned that the sins of the church went public than the damage it did to children and families.

Pope Francis has called for the church to exhibit “zero tolerance” of sexual abuse of minors or vulnerable adults by clergy and that “everything possible must be done to rid the church of the scourge of the sexual abuse”.  It seems many in the hierarchy do not feel the same as the Pope.

SNAP, a US-based advocacy group for abuse victims that has been very critical of Pope Francis on the issue said, “It’s infuriating, and dangerous, that so many believe the myth that bishops are changing how they deal with abuse and that so little attention is paid when evidence to the contrary”.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, appointed by Pope Francis, played no role in the training program, even though it is Pope Francis Commission that is  supposed to be developing “best practices” to prevent and deal with clerical abuse.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (who should be the ones dealing with child abuse in the church) said their position is reporting abuse to civil authorities was a “moral obligation, whether the civil law requires it or not”. The official said the commission would be involved in future training efforts.

Keep in mind the abuse Pontifical Commission (the Popes Commission) forced one of two abuse survivors who had personally been appointed by Pope Francis to leave the committee following a vote of no confidence stating he released to much information to the public.  The other abuse victim on the commission has now resigned as of last week.

The Catholic sex abuse stories have been in the news now for 32 years.  The National Catholic Reporter, an independent Catholic publication, broke the first story 32 years ago.  It remains a story because even if the ones abused by clergy and bishops and cardinals have supportive family and friends, a financial cushion and plenty of time in therapy — all big “ifs” — they never entirely leave it behind.  They never completely heal.

It remains a story because many that have been abuse by clergy find salvation in telling their stories. This is not simply catharsis. They want to be assured that their abusers are known to the world and can never hurt another child. They want to know if their abusers had other victims. They want other victims to know that they were not alone, and that it was not their fault. They want to put their trauma to some use. Only then can they rest.  

Unfortunately many in the Catholic Church, officials and lay people, would like for them to just fade away so they can put these horrible acts (which still continue) behind them.  That is what made the problem worse in the first place lay people in the Catholic Church turned a blind eye to the problem and allowed it to go on for centuries.

The clergy abuse story remains a story because abuse victims often wait years before they are ready to speak. They are too ashamed, or confused, or afraid of not being believed. But eventually they tell someone, and once they start speaking, some cannot stop. That’s why the sexual abuse story has emerged so slowly, over years, in waves. Abuse victims are like combat veterans: The war is long over, but the coping is not. Years after the Vietnam War ended, people are still writing memoirs and making movies, still processing what happened.

Of course, child sexual abuse is an issue everywhere, not just in the Catholic Church.  It takes place in every denomination and even in independent churches.  It takes place in it in schools, scouting organizations, camps, United Nations missions and every public and private organization that involve children.  It happens so often it is hard to keep track: Protestant, Jewish, Hindu, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the most bizarre story of all — an international Christian cult called the Children of God.  But the scandal in the Catholic Church has proved far more extensive. 

You may ask why is it so extensive in the Catholic Church well one reason is the sheer number of Catholics— Catholics make up about a quarter of the American population and are the largest single religious denomination. The Catholic Church is also a hierarchical organization that keeps extensive records, so abuse usually leaves a paper trail.  Another factor, too, is the exalted position of priests, acting “in persona Christi” — in the person of Christ.  And then there is the church’s requirement of celibacy for priests. While many live by and value it, for others it has led to covert sexual relationships with adults, double lives and deep secrets.

Some also theorize that the all-male priesthood is a factor. While it’s quite possible that having women in the clergy would have instilled more accountability and sensitivity, child sexual abuse also happens in faiths with married clergy. It also happens in families.

American Bishops are not abiding by the reforms they agreed to in 2002, in response to the eruption of cases set off by the scandal in Boston. The American bishops agreed to report allegations to the authorities and to remove all credibly accused priests from ministry. They agreed to establish prevention programs in parishes and schools, teach children and adults about warning signs, and conduct background checks on employees.

As a retired priest I and many like me are stewing that colleagues who have failed to protect children make us all look bad — but then news is never about the planes that land safely.

In closing states should drop the statute of limitations for filing criminal charges in all child abuse cases, and extend the statute for filing civil cases to age 60.  Leaders of any organization that know of child abuse within their organization and do not report it immediately should be charged criminally and face a minimum of five years in prison.