After the February symposium:
Some episcopal conferences still have
to submit their specific guidelines
for dealing with clergy abuse of minors
by Salvatore Izzo
VATICAN CITY, July 6 (Translated from AGI) - A demanding task faces the new prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Mons. Ludwig Gerhard Mueller, with regard to specific national guidelines prepared by local bishops to protect children and eliminate the scourge of abusive priests.
In fact, probably because of this, in part, there was a determined campaign in the traditional media and on the Internet to oppose his nomination on the ground that his theology is purportedly unorthodox.
Mons. Charles Scicluna, the CDF's promoter of justice (chief prosecutor of abuse cases) described what needs to be done in an interview with the magazine Jesus, recalling that at the international symposium on the problem held last February, the episcopal conferences were asked to submit their proposed guidelines by May according to the criteria proposed by the CDF and further refined at the symposium.
"A great part of the bishops' conferences have submitted their respective guidelines for the evaluation of the CDF. We are sending out reminders to those who have not yet submitted," Mons. Scicluna said. "These guidelines will be reviewed for concreteness, and suggestions will be made as needed for modification."
He said many of those who have not yet submitted their proposals are African nations "where there are great problems in ecclesiastical structure".
For the rest of the world, more than half have submitted - including the Italian bishops' conference.
Mons. Scicluna cited a possible instance when the CDF might propose a modification: "If the bishops' conference, in its description of relations with civilian authorities, will cite state law only to underscore the autonomy of the Church, it will be asked to provide a precise, careful and complete description of how state law deals with sexual crimes, and to specify that, in full respect of state law, the local Church will never act to dissuade victims for exercising their right to bring their complaint to civilian authorities. This is a commitment that must be explicit, so that the framework for dealing with the problem is complete".
"Bishops are single individuals, whereas the national conference is made up of diverse personalities," Scicluna noted. "But I was very encouraged by the bishops [or bishops' representatives] who attended the February symposium at the Gregorianum, who said the impact upon them of the various testimonials they heard was very powerful."
"It's not as if in a few weeks, one can accomplish a revolution in mentality," he noted. "It will require time, but under the humble and courageous leadership of the Holy Father, the right seeds have been planted. The faithful demand the vigilance of their pastors - this is a fight against sin and against crimes, to protect the innocence of children and young people, who are treasures for the Church".
Meanwhile, the papers and proceedings of the February symposium have now been published in Italian. The book is entitled as the symposium was, 'Towards Healing and Renewal'.
The book was edited by Mons. Scicluna, who obtained his doctorate in canon law and jurisprudence from the Gregorian University where he is also currently a visiting professor of penal processes; Fr. Hans Zoller, SJ, president of the Gregorian's Institute of Psychology, who is a theologian and psychotherapist; and Fr. David Ayotte, SJ, a priest from the archdiocese of Los Angeles, who has been teaching at the Gregorian since last year.
Father Zoller said this to Vatican Radio about the symposium and its follow-through:
The Symposium and the publication of these acts represent a small step in the long and painful process that the Holy Father has undertaken. Without him, we would not have held this symposium at all, and we would not have this movement in all parts of the Church to become very aware of the need for the Church to act with one voice and one will in this matter...
The strongest gestures have been the Holy Father's meetings with some victims and his Letter to the Catholics of Ireland - they represent a great and impressive effort to look at all the sins and crimes committed in the past by ministers of the Church, but even by their superiors who covered up for them and those who were in a state of denial.
The Pope has been the leading witness of the fact that there can be no moving ahead without trying to put things right: to do justice to the victims and to do everything we can to prevent any such abuses.
That is why, at the end of the symposium, we set up the Center for the Protection of Minors, which the Gregorian has based in Munich as a center for e-learning. We have since sent people to the primary dioceses of the primary nations collaborating with us, and they have brought back material from places like India and Indonesia, with lots of eye-opening information.
Although we must all be united in battling abuse of young people, we also have to take into account that different countries not only have different languages and sensibilities but the laws themselves regarding protection of children differ from country to country. So it is necessary to know all this in order to make the Church's response to the problem more affective everywhere.
