BRITISH STUDY ADDRESSES CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN CATHOLOIC CHURCH

http://www.salon.com/mwt/wire/2001/04/17/catholic_study/index.html
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ROBERT BARR

April 17, 2001 | LONDON (AP) -- Police should make checks on all clergy, staff and volunteers in the Roman Catholic Church to stamp out sexual abuse of children, a report commissioned by the church said Tuesday.

A national database should be established for all candidates for the ministry, added the report of a commission headed by Lord Nolan, a former appeals judge.

Between 1995 and 1999, 21 of the 5,600 Catholic priests in England and Wales were convicted of offenses against children.

"Our hope is that this report will help to bring about a culture of vigilance where every single adult member of the church consciously and proactively takes responsibility for creating a safe environment for children and young people," the report said.

"Our recommendations are not a substitute for this but we hope they will be an impetus towards such an achievement."

The report said the church should set up a national child protection unit, and that every parish should have a designated child protection representative. It said bishops and religious superiors should not overrule selections boards where there are questions about a candidate's suitability.

"We believe that the Catholic Church in England and Wales should become an example of best practice in the prevention of child abuse and in responding to it," Nolan told a news conference to launch the report.

"We are confident that the huge majority of church members strongly support this objective and we have been impressed by the work many are already doing to bring it about."

In a BBC television interview before the report's release, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham said the church needed to "start right at the beginning and be very careful as to how well we take a very close, and increasingly professional look, at all those who apply to be priests in the Catholic Church."

Nichols said the church has learned a great deal in recent decades. "I think 20 years ago it was just a puzzle, it was such a shock and such a surprise," Nichols said. "It was very much a hidden phenomenon and a hidden crime. But I think nowadays these things are much more understood. We obviously have been on a steep learning curve along with the rest of society."

The church in England and Wales published its first report on child abuse in 1994, emphasizing that the church should work closely with child protection teams, government authorities and other professionals.

The Nolan report was commissioned last year.

The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, was caught up in controversy last summer over his decision to assign a priest to the Gatwick airport chapel despite concerns about the priest's behavior.

The priest was subsequently convicted in nine sex attacks, including one with a boy he met at the chapel, and he served 42 months in prison.

Murphy-O'Connor said the independent report was "extremely constructive and helpful" and would form a major item for discussion by all the bishops of England and Wales at their meeting next week.

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