Reform Catholic Church Policy, Critics Say, Charles Lewis, National Post, April 9, 2010

Reform Catholic Church Policy, Critics Say

By Charles Lewis
National Post
April 9, 2010

http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/holy-post/archive/2010/04/10/lewis.aspx

The abuse scandal at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland had one positive impact on the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1992, Catholic bishops put together a report on abuse in Canada, with recommendations that largely said the Church must put an emphasis on victims rather than the institution.

“It was a model of how to deal with abuse,” said Canadian Catholic scholar Michael Higgins. “It could be an example to the world.”

Just this week, however, a letter was made public that showed a Canadian Catholic bishop in 1993 — just a year after the report — wrote to Rome to discuss how to keep a suspected pedophile priest named Bernard Prince tucked away in the Vatican rather than have him face scrutiny here. As has been the case in the most recent accusations of wrongdoing against the Vatican, the Church seemed more concerned about avoiding scandal than bringing perpetrators to justice.

Critics say the new revelations are a reminder that Church reforms in this country have been far too scattered. They say it is time for the Church to follow the example in the United States, which adopted a strict nationwide policy eight years ago.

“There is absolutely a need to form a national policy that is Church law,” said Rob Talach, the London, Ont.,-based lawyer handling a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against Bernard Prince, the now-defrocked priest and convicted pedophile, and the Diocese of Pembroke, Ont., which shuffled him off to the Vatican.

Mr. Talach says the recommendations of 1992, and subsequent advisories about Church policy in the ensuing years, simply do not have the teeth to effect change in an institution that has been resistant to it. Meanwhile, some bishops have taken strong measures locally, leading others to argue that an over-arching national policy is not necessary.

Suggestions that the Church has been slow to reform are nothing new.

In 2005, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops brought together a panel of church officials and lay people to determine what changes had taken place since the publication of the 1992 report. Victims of abuse were still critical of the management of sexual abuse by clergy and argued that the “actions and the measures [toward reform] 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.”

In 2007, the conference of bishops issued a series of protocols for the dioceses to follow, which among other things advised bringing in police immediately to deal with abuse accusations, rather than handling them internally at first.

But even now, the CCCB said it does not monitor abuse in Canada, nor does it have the ability to enforce Church law because each bishop is autonomous. It also cannot say what different dioceses have done in confronting abuse.

Mr. Talach, who is representing 11 clients abused by Prince, says the creation of a strict Church-wide law in this country would be a strong step toward accountability, and he points to the United States as a role model.

Eight years ago, the U.S. adopted such policies to deal with abusers, including no transfers of suspected priests to other dioceses and removing priests permanently from their duties if found guilty.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops uses external monitors to assure the law is being followed. It also keeps statistics on the number of abuse victims, safe environment training, and ensuring strict background checks are done on priests and the laity.

And as for suggestions that the Canadian Chuwrch cannot limit the ability of local bishops to rule their diocese, Mr. Talach argues the Church is capable of speaking with one mind on issues such as gay marriage and abortion without any concerns for autonomy.

Not everyone agrees that this type of oversight is needed. Father Francis Morrisey, an expert on canon law in Ottawa, said a national policy is not needed because many dioceses have instituted strong rules on their own.

In the Archdiocese of Toronto, for example, any allegation by a minor of misconduct by a priest must be reported to the civil authorities within one hour. Every parish must also have a committee to screen volunteers, including running police checks on anyone coming in contact with a minor or another vulnerable person. Admission to the seminary involves extensive admission procedures including a battery of medical and psychological tests.

Similar procedures are in place in Vancouver.

Fr. Morrisey said it would be more important for Rome to take the lead and make clear policies for the entire Church.

“They need to stop dealing with the symptoms and start getting to the underlying reasons for the abuse that has taken place and why cover-ups followed.”

He noted that the Vatican is still not clear on the abuse and reporting issue and this would be a good time to update canon law for the entire Church.

“They should hold a synod on the priesthood and look at everything from celibacy, to salaries and even living conditions. There is no canon law right now that even deals with pornography.”

Fr. Morrisey added that the Church in Canada, and probably elsewhere, was slow to move on the abuse issue for a variety of reasons, from a tendency toward secrecy to a belief that the consequences of sexual abuse were not given serious consideration.

Mr. Higgins, the Canadian Catholic scholar, agreed a synod is necessary. He would like it to focus on how elements of the clerical culture have led to the current mess.

“The problem has been that the institution has been concerned with protecting its reputation. But is that a Gospel value? The Gospel calls for just, love and compassion above all. We have to have full transparency and the Pope has to show aggressive leadership in making that happen. Otherwise, the damage to the institutional Church will be irreparable.”