Child Protection: Focus on the Church in the Philippines

Vatican Radio
October 12, 2015

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/10/12/child_protection_focus_on_the_church_in_the_philippines/1178671

[with audio]

Members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors who concluded their three-day plenary in Rome on Sunday October 11th. - OSS_ROM

The problems of sexual abuse and child protection have been back under the spotlight in the Vatican as the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors held its second plenary assembly. The meeting, from October 9th to 11th focused on formation of candidates for priesthood and religious life, the use of forensic assessments for people accused of sex abuse crimes and the use of liturgical support materials for the pastoral care of survivors.

One of the Commission members is Professor Gabriel Dy-Liacco, a psychotherapist and pastoral counsellor for mental health issues in the Philippines. He works closely with both survivors and perpetrators of sexual abuse and was involved in facilitating a recent Commission workshop on these issues for bishops in the Philippines. He told Philippa Hitchen that Church leaders in his country are determined to tackle the problems of child protection, despite the difficulties of talking about abuse within the Filipino culture…

Dy-Liacco says it’s difficult to talk about clergy abuse of children but also sexual abuse in general, so the workshop that the Filipino bishops requested is “groundbreaking, not only for the Church but for Filipino society as well”

Asked about the difficulties of implementing suggestions or best practice from the workshop, Dy Liacco says the bishops are motivated and have come up with concrete plans that are expected to be announced in the new year. As early as the 1980s, he notes that some bishops were aware of the problem and were trying to tackle the issue within their own dioceses. He says they are now happy to hear from the Commission about what they can do to improve, to share resources and “to address the problems quickly, responsibly and effectively”.

In the Philippines and throughout the developing world, he says there are significant related problems such as the economic situation, the connected issues of corruption, crime and syndicated crime rings, plus the natural disasters which leave children without families particularly vulnerable to predators….

Dy Liacco also talks about latest medical and technological advances in understanding the mental state of a person who has suffered traumas and abuse, in particular the way a victim’s sense of consistency is disrupted. When that person recalls or ‘re-experiences’ the trauma of abuse, he says, that is not a recollection from the past, but rather it is experienced as though it is happening in the present. These rapid scientific developments, he adds, are making a huge impact on the ability to understand and help victims of abuse….