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	Church Cracks down on Deviant Priests By Kay Benedict India Today April 13, 2010 http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/92580/India/Church+cracks+down+on+deviant+priests.html Taking note of the rising incidents of child abuse by the clergy, the apex body of the church in India wants to formulate guidelines to deal with paedophile priests. The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) will convene a meeting of its standing committee on April 25 in Bangalore to frame the rules, said a source close to CBCI president Cardinal Oswald Gracias. The meeting will also initiate steps to prevent deviant behaviour among the clergy. The move comes in the wake of reports that the Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI have not meted out harsh punishment to priests involved in child abuse. There has been a related revival of the debate on whether the "celibacy" imposed on Catholic priests is responsible for such deviant sexual behaviour. Like the rest of the church, the CBCI has officially defended Pope Benedict, saying the cases involving deviant priests were "very few". But the Catholic Church in India, which runs 25,000 schools, is concerned about the scandal as it has high stakes. The standing committee is the highest administrative body and comprises 165 archbishops and chairpersons of CBCI commissions and centres. The meeting, however, is not expected to address policy issues which come under the Vatican's domain. The meet is also expected to focus on priests who transgress celibacy vows to indulge in sex with consenting adults. The church is worried over the publicity generated by Father J.P. Jeyapaul, 52, who is working in the Ooty diocese in Tamil Nadu. The priest had allegedly molested a 14-year-old while working in Crookston diocese in the US. Church sources said the media, especially the western media which is controlled by a powerful Jewish lobby, had hyped the issue to damage the church's image. There was also a suspicion of Muslim groups' role in the "campaign". CBCI sources said the meeting would formulate an action plan for all dioceses in India. These could include administrative steps or directives within the Canon Law of the church to deal with "delinquent priests". Action could include counselling of priests showing deviant tendencies, suspension from a public ministry or a recommendation to the Vatican to defrock the priest. In the wake of media reports that the Pope had failed to deal with abusive priests, Cardinal Gracias had issued a clarification in the The Examiner , a weekly published by the Bombay archdiocese. "Many reports are misleading in their headlines and inaccurate in content," he said. CBCI spokesperson Father Babu Joseph said the reports failed to portray the correct picture about the steps the Vatican had taken to address the issue. Asked if celibacy was a reason for such behaviour, he said: "Such behaviour is not limited to the Catholic clergy. The church certainly disapproves unbecoming conduct, particularly abuse of children, and takes stringent action." He said bishops' conferences in every country were expected to evolve appropriate guidelines to deal with the issue. Asked if shortage of priests was a reason for the church to soft- pedal the issue, Father Joseph said the shortage was not to the extent of pressing the panic button.
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