Sex Abuse Guidelines Dismissed, by Leesha McKenny, Sydney Morning Herald, May 18, 2011

Sex Abuse Guidelines Dismissed

By Leesha McKenny
Sydney Morning Herald
May 18, 2011

http://www.smh.com.au/national/sex-abuse-guidelines-dismissed-20110517-1erj5.html?from=smh_sb

The Vatican's recommendations for handling child abuse cases has been met with scepticism.

NEW Vatican recommendations for handling cases of child sexual abuse by priests have been greeted with scepticism by victims' groups, while the Australian church said such protocols were already well-established here.

The Vatican wants ''clear and co-ordinated procedures'' to deal with instances of abuse to be in place within 12 months.

It has made recommendations on the church's treatment of victims and their families, including ''their spiritual and psychological assistance''; abuse prevention programs, and co-operation with civil authorities.

''Sexual abuse of minors is not just a canonical delict but also a crime prosecuted by civil law,'' the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said.

Vetting priests, including those transferring from other areas, was highlighted as an important area, but the Vatican said the guidelines should also apply to ''religious or lay persons who function in ecclesiastical situations''.

Priests were to be ''well informed of the damaged done to victims of clerical sexual abuse'' and how to recognise the potential signs of abuse, as well as their legal responsibilities.

The letter concluded that responsibility for handling complaints was in the hands of bishops, ''a responsibility which cannot be replaced by supervisory bodies'', a Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said.

The US Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said the letter had not addressed the crux of the abuse crisis: complicit bishops. ''They are merely recommendations, not binding policy with no penalties for non-compliance,'' it said.

Dr Bernard Barrett, a spokesman for the Broken Rites Australia victim support group, said the Vatican has traditionally ignored and concealed sex abuse crimes within the church, which was a criminal act in NSW.

''But recently it sacked a Queensland bishop, William Morris, who had supported some victims,'' he said. ''The Vatican would be more believable if it sacked all the bishops who have covered up these crimes.''

The secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Father Brian Lucas, said the letter would be taken into account by the Australian church, but he was fairly confident all the guidelines were already covered here by the ''Towards Healing'' protocols introduced in 1996.

The release of the letter comes as Amnesty International's latest report on human rights said the Vatican ''did not sufficiently comply with its international obligations relating to the protection of children''.