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	Hodges: Churches Need to Put Policies in Place to Protect Children By Corey J. Hodges The Salt Lake Tribune August 3, 2007 http://www.sltrib.com/faith/ci_6538688 United States — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will pay $660 million in lawsuit settlements to almost 500 people who were allegedly abused by clergy affiliated with the diocese. The deal is the largest settlement in the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal, which began in the 1990s and has seen compensations totaling more than $2 billion for incidents dating as far back as the 1940s. The Catholic Church has received mass media attention in the last few years, but the church pedophile problem has lurked in the shadows of public awareness across a spectrum of denominations for many years. Christian Ministry Resources (CMR), a publisher of tax and legal advice for religious organizations that conducts an annual survey of about 1,000 churches, reports that over the past decade, child abuse in American churches has averaged 70 occurrences a week. CMR's findings also indicate that most child sexual abuse occurs in Protestant churches and the majority of abusers are church volunteers, not clergy or other paid staff, as recent incidents could lead one to presume. James Cobble, founder and former executive director of CMR, says that churches are the perfect environment for pedophiles because they have large numbers of children's programs, a shortage of workers to lead them and a culture of trust that is the essence of the organization. Indeed, the level of trust in the church environment is unprecedented. In response to concerns about sexual predators using the Boy Scouts of America programs to locate victims, the organization worked with law enforcement to implement tougher recruitment procedures. Potential scoutmasters must now fill out lengthy applications and are subject to criminal background checks. However, in many churches, despite numerous media reports exposing the church predator problem, individuals can still walk off the street and begin working with young people with little or no scrutiny. Such lax policies are to the detriment of the children. Pedophiles also take advantage of the church's culture of forgiveness. Many incidents of abuse go unreported in the name of forgiveness, which does nothing to deter future molestations. To combat the problem, trust should be accompanied by verification, and forgiveness by consequences. Victims from the L.A. diocese case gathered outside the courthouse and talked about the abuse that occurred during their childhood. One victim has spent a lifetime battling drug and alcoholism, another says she has lost 19 jobs and been divorced three times as a result of the molestation. The Catholic Church scandals should cause religious institutions to re-examine their policies and screening procedures - not for fear of litigation, but to prevent horrendous crimes that have lasting effects on the most vulnerable citizens of our society. --- * COREY J. HODGES writes about current events and ideas from a moral perspective. Hodges, the senior pastor of the New Pilgrim Baptist Church in Taylorsville, welcomes comments at coreyjhodges@comcast.net. You also may send comments to religioneditor@sltrib.com.
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