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	Only Time Will Tell If Bishops' Guidelines Would Be Beneficial – Lawrence Grech By Elaine Attard Malta Independent May 18, 2011 http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=125496 Only time will tell whether the Vatican's call for bishops to suggest guidelines on dealing with the sexual abuse of minors by clergy or religious members of the Church, according to three Vatican documents made public two days ago, will be beneficial or not, said Lawrence Grech, one of a number of victims allegedly abused by priests at St Joseph Home in Sta Venera. "In my opinion, the Church should have introduced the guidelines 30 or 40 years ago, not now when the Church is going through a bad period, probably one of the roughest in history because a lot of sexual abuse cases have made the headlines," Mr Grech told The Malta Independent when contacted "Bishops have no idea what goes on in institutions similar to where I grew up. Bishops will only learn what really goes on when persons like me decide to take huge risks to expose their story to seek justice. While the bishops are coming up with the guidelines, there are still cases of abuse that are surfacing. Just to mention one example, a few days ago we heard of that Italian priest who led a double life," he added. In a letter signed by the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Levada and secretary of the same decastery, Luis F. Ladaria, around the world, the Vatican gave a year's time for bishops to develop guidelines for preventing sex abuse by May 2012. This newspaper yesterday reported that the document marks the latest effort by the Vatican to show it is serious about rooting out priestly paedophiles and preventing abuse following the eruption on a global scale of the abuse scandal last year with thousands of victims coming forward. In the letter, the Vatican told the bishops "it is important to cooperate" with civil law enforcement authorities and follow civil reporting requirements, though it doesn't make such reporting mandatory. The Vatican has said such a binding rule would be problematic for priests working in countries with repressive regimes. The letter told the bishops' conferences to draft guidelines for preventing abuse and caring for victims and report them back to the Congregation by May 2012. It said bishops should be prepared to listen to victims, to create "safe environment" programmes for minors and to better screen seminarians and ensure they receive proper training about celibacy and the damage done to victims of sex abuse. It did not mention possible financial compensation for victims. The Vatican spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi, stressed that such measures are to be taken up on a case-by-case basis and that such a recommendation did not belong in a general letter of guidance being issued by Rome. The letter stresses that accused priests are presumed innocent until the contrary is proven. The guidance given to bishops in the letter yesterday falls far short of those recommendations: It merely reminds bishops that they are "always able to limit the exercise of the cleric's ministry until the accusations are clarified."
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