CANADA
National Post
Jenny Jackson
CanWest News Service
Saturday, September 24, 2005
CORNWALL, Ont. - The Catholic church must get tougher on sexual predator priests in Canada and become more open, compassionate and accountable to their victims, says a report released yesterday.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops asked for victims' input as they prepared the report and they clearly got it.
"The sexual abuse of minors is beyond any doubt one of the greatest tragedies brought to light over the past 25 years," said the report from a committee of bishops.
"In the course of the interviews with victims, as well as in a number of written communications, the suffering and often dramatic consequences of sexual abuse were obvious.
"Their [victims'] perception is that the church's actions and the measures it implements are aimed more at preserving the financial and pastoral integrity of the institution, protecting priests, even known abusers, and the systematic challenging of victims, rather than their protection.