An Apology Wont End the Abuse Pope Benedict XVIs Eloquent Letter Aimed at Irish Catholics Is a Brave and Welcome Gesture However He Did Not Go Far Enough, Globe and Mail, March 22, 2010

An Apology Won't End the Abuse
Pope Benedict XVI's Eloquent Letter Aimed at Irish Catholics Is a Brave and Welcome Gesture. However, He Did Not Go Far Enough

Globe and Mail
March 22, 2010

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/an-apology-wont-end-the-abuse/article1507580/

CANADA -- Pope Benedict XVI's apology this weekend to Ireland's victims of sexual and physical assault is a welcome first step in taking responsibility for past wrongs. However, the Pope did not go far enough to restore the credibility of the Roman Catholic Church over this issue, and to reassure victims that a new strategy is in place to prevent future abuse. He should require that predatory and pedophilic clergy be disciplined for past actions, and should clarify contradictory Vatican rules that some fear continue to allow abuse to go unpunished.

In his eight-page pastoral letter, the Pope acknowledged that "serious sins committed against defenceless children" had opened up a "grievous wound." He said he was sorry for those who have suffered in Ireland and had their trust betrayed and their dignity violated. He criticized bishops for failing to apply canon law to the crime of child abuse, and announced that a special apostolic delegation will be sent to Ireland to investigate abuse in dioceses there.

Pope Benedict XVI celebrates his Sunday Angelus prayer from the window of his apartment on St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.
Photo by Tiziana Fabi

But the letter did not spell out changes in Vatican policy that would turn back a long-entrenched culture of secrecy, and did not outline new regulations that will force bishops to be held accountable for covering up incidents of clerical abuse.

For decades it was common practice for the church not to involve police in sexual abuse cases that took place in Roman Catholic schools, monasteries, orphanages and other institutions. In government reports issued last year in Ireland, authorities concluded that the church did not routinely inform civil authorities about priests who had committed felonies. The Pope himself has been criticized in the past for presiding over a culture of secrecy in his time as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith – the Vatican department that deals with investigating allegations made against priests.

In his letter, the Pope did acknowledge the "well-intentioned but misguided tendency to avoid penal approaches to canonically irregular situations." He attributed the problem to a "misplaced concern for the reputation of the church and the avoidance of scandal, resulting in failure to apply existing canonical penalties." He noted that priests and religious workers guilty of child abuse "must answer" for their crimes "before properly constituted tribunals." But he did not clarify what this means, and whether perpetrators will now surrender themselves to the police to face the criminal justice system.

This weekend's eloquent letter aimed at Irish Catholics is a brave and welcome gesture. This is not the first time the Pope has apologized – he said sorry to victims of sexual abuse in the U.S. and Australia in 2008 – and it likely won't be his last.

And yet, the Pope's words won't put an end to the deepening crisis of credibility facing the church, as abuse allegations continue to surface in other parts of Europe. More than 170 students at Catholic schools across Germany have come forward to report sexual abuse from years ago, while others have alleged they were severely beaten. Dutch Catholic bishops recently announced an independent inquiry into more than 200 allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests at church schools.

The Catholic Church is not the only large organization with pedophiles amongst its members; however, it is one of few that systematically protected sexual predators. The Pope must send a decisive signal that this era is over and reforms are in place to ensure clerics who abuse children and adolescents are removed. An abbot at the Benedictine Abbey in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, has suggested creating a central Vatican registrar for pedophile priests to prevent them from being shuffled from one parish to another. This would represent a meaningful next step.

Prayer, fasting and apologies are not enough. Transparency and accountability are needed.