Post by goz on May 10, 2019 23:10:03 GMT
www.sbs.com.au/news/pope-orders-bishops-accountable-for-sex-abuse-makes-reporting-mandatory?fbclid=IwAR0nsY99vnyemecR3ZGO_fyrU2SSoZOs655yxHleJR9k5zjuLG8DpHRVCPA[/url
The bold parts are mine. Does this go far enough? The Pope is said to have stated that he can't take it further due to the difference in international law within countries where there is Catholicism. Is this a cop out? It STILL seems as though the Catholic Church wants to maintain power and authority over its own.
Pope Francis has issued a decree holding bishops accountable for sexual abuse or covering it up; it is also mandatory for priests and nuns to report all abuse.
Updated
Updated 18 hours ago
Pope Francis has issued a landmark decree making bishops directly accountable for sexual abuse or covering it up, requiring clerics to report any cases to Catholic Church superiors.
It also allows anyone to complain directly to the Vatican if needed.
Tackling sexual abuses that have battered the Catholic Church's reputation has been a major challenge for Pope Francis since his 2013 election, with victims demanding a crackdown on bishops at the diocese level accused of concealing or mismanaging cases.
Australian victims' advocates said the law was a step in the right direction, but did not go far enough as it did not mandate crimes being reported to police.
Survivors did not believe the church could be trusted with policing its own given the long history of cover-ups and mishandling of widespread abuse by clergy, advocates said.
"There's a real fear amongst survivors that because of its history the church cannot be trusted to police itself," In Good Faith Foundation CEO Clare Leaney told AAP on Friday.
Blue Knot Foundation president Cathy Kezelman noted it was the first time in the church's history that clergy now have a mandatory obligation to report child sexual abuse to senior members of the church and to set up reporting systems for those who have witnessed or experienced abuse.
"What remains to be seen is if senior members of the Catholic Church and the hierarchy will live up to these laws and report abuse when it happens," Dr Kezelman said.
"Until this point, the church has not had a good track record in reporting abuse, protecting whistleblowers or referring reports to police and law enforcement."
Dr Kezelman said the church law required clergy to comply with local law if it mandated reporting of abuse allegations to civil authorities, but questioned whether it went far enough to ensure that happened.
Accessible reporting
The papal change in church law, covering abuse of children and adults alike, also obliges every diocese worldwide to set up simple, accessible reporting systems and encourages local churches to involve lay experts in investigations.
Pope Francis's edict obliges the world's one million priests and nuns to report all suspicion of sexual abuse by clerics of any level. Before, it was just a matter of individual conscience as to whether to report cases.
It calls for whistleblower protection, saying bishops with conflicts of interest should recuse themselves from investigations and that bishops can also be held accountable for abuse of power in sexual relations with adults.
Former US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was expelled from the Roman Catholic priesthood last February after he was found guilty of sexual crimes against minors and adults, including forcing seminarians to sleep with him.
"We have said for years that priests should follow certain strict rules, so why should bishops and other members of the church hierarchy be exempt?" said Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops.
Updated
Updated 18 hours ago
Pope Francis has issued a landmark decree making bishops directly accountable for sexual abuse or covering it up, requiring clerics to report any cases to Catholic Church superiors.
It also allows anyone to complain directly to the Vatican if needed.
Tackling sexual abuses that have battered the Catholic Church's reputation has been a major challenge for Pope Francis since his 2013 election, with victims demanding a crackdown on bishops at the diocese level accused of concealing or mismanaging cases.
Australian victims' advocates said the law was a step in the right direction, but did not go far enough as it did not mandate crimes being reported to police.
Survivors did not believe the church could be trusted with policing its own given the long history of cover-ups and mishandling of widespread abuse by clergy, advocates said.
"There's a real fear amongst survivors that because of its history the church cannot be trusted to police itself," In Good Faith Foundation CEO Clare Leaney told AAP on Friday.
Blue Knot Foundation president Cathy Kezelman noted it was the first time in the church's history that clergy now have a mandatory obligation to report child sexual abuse to senior members of the church and to set up reporting systems for those who have witnessed or experienced abuse.
"What remains to be seen is if senior members of the Catholic Church and the hierarchy will live up to these laws and report abuse when it happens," Dr Kezelman said.
"Until this point, the church has not had a good track record in reporting abuse, protecting whistleblowers or referring reports to police and law enforcement."
Dr Kezelman said the church law required clergy to comply with local law if it mandated reporting of abuse allegations to civil authorities, but questioned whether it went far enough to ensure that happened.
Accessible reporting
The papal change in church law, covering abuse of children and adults alike, also obliges every diocese worldwide to set up simple, accessible reporting systems and encourages local churches to involve lay experts in investigations.
Pope Francis's edict obliges the world's one million priests and nuns to report all suspicion of sexual abuse by clerics of any level. Before, it was just a matter of individual conscience as to whether to report cases.
It calls for whistleblower protection, saying bishops with conflicts of interest should recuse themselves from investigations and that bishops can also be held accountable for abuse of power in sexual relations with adults.
Former US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was expelled from the Roman Catholic priesthood last February after he was found guilty of sexual crimes against minors and adults, including forcing seminarians to sleep with him.
"We have said for years that priests should follow certain strict rules, so why should bishops and other members of the church hierarchy be exempt?" said Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops.
The bold parts are mine. Does this go far enough? The Pope is said to have stated that he can't take it further due to the difference in international law within countries where there is Catholicism. Is this a cop out? It STILL seems as though the Catholic Church wants to maintain power and authority over its own.
