Catholic Church urges whistleblowers to report sex abuse priests

by generaldecay | October 1, 2009 at 09:05 am

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The Roman Catholic Church is urging whistleblowers to speak out against bishops, clergy, monks and nuns who they suspect might be guilty of sexual or other abuse. Alleged abusers who do not merit a criminal prosecution are to be subject to independent investigation by a national panel appointed by the Church.

You know, I can't keep up. On the one hand, the Catholic Church seems to be very keen to cover up its priests' abuse, and the Vatican tries to divert attention away from the Church by focusing on the abuse of other religions. On the other hand, we have this.

The new policies, published by the Catholic Safeguarding and Advisory Service , mark a turning away from the protectionist policy of secrecy of previous generations. The Safeguarding Manual of the Catholic Church of England and Wales says: “We encourage employees, office holders, volunteers and others who have serious concerns about any aspect of the Church’s safeguarding work to come forward and voice those concerns.

So is this a strategic attempt at comeback by the Church? I can't help but be cynical. Why didn't the Church ask for people to come forward when the abuse was taking place, instead of taking measures to cover it up? I feel that this is too little, too late. And I question the extent to which this new-found call for openness will be successful. Through its years of covering up for abuse, the Church has actively scared people out of coming forward with reports and I see no reason why that would change any time soon. It all makes me wonder if this is nothing more than a tokenistic gesture, at best.

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