By Anthony Barich
MUCH of the criticism of the Catholic Church’s handling of sexual abuse cases stems from a lack of knowledge about its historical context, said a policy expert who is set to address Australian lay, clergy and Religious in July and August.
The Australian Bishops’ National Committee for Professional Standards will host Monica Applewhite – an expert in screening, monitoring and policy development for the prevention of sexual abuse and risk management for those with histories of sexual offending – on 29-30 July in Sydney and 4-5 August in Adelaide.
Ms Applewhite, who has spent the past 17 years conducting research and root-cause analysis in sexual abuse and helping organisations develop best practice standards for prevention and response, told the National Catholic Register (NCR) on 15 April that newspaper articles have criticised officials for not reporting acts of abuse to the civil authorities in years when there were no child protective services and the particular behaviours involved were not criminalised yet.
It is fair, she said, for criticism of decisions made in the 1960s and ’70s to focus on interpretation of moral behaviour, weakness in the resolve of leaders or even the disregard of procedures set out in Canon law.
“By the same token, it is essential to separate this from expectations that are based on the laws and standards of today,” said Ms Applewhite, who has been involved in developing four national programmes in the US for child sex abuse prevention.
“We began studying sexual abuse in the 1970s, discovered it caused real harm in 1978 and realised perpetrators were difficult to rehabilitate in the 1990s. During the ‘70s when we were sending offenders to treatment, the criminal justice system was doing the very same thing with convicted offenders – sending them to treatment instead of prison. At the same time, it was believed they could be cured with relative ease.”
Her most pressing concern, she said, is the lack of protocols to guide the supervision and accountability for priests and Religious who have been accused or found to have sexually offended in the past or who have completed their obligations to the criminal justice system.
“There continues to be a belief that aging and the passing of time will render these men safe,” said Ms Applewhite, who has worked with over 300 organisations that serve youth, including the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Rome, 28 Catholic US dioceses and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“I understand we cannot supervise them if they are no longer a priest or Religious, but as long as they are, we should strive to know how they spend their time and whether they are upholding the limits that have been placed on them.”
In July and August, Mc Applewhite – who has studied the Towards Healing, the Australian Bishops’ policy that governs the handling of allegations of abuse against Church personnel in almost all of the Church in Australia – will focus on the needs of Bishops and Congregational leaders, their Vicars, teams, delegates and Professional Standards personnel.
She will speak on care and response for those who report abuse, self-awareness and preparedness in walking with them, assessing risk for individuals who may have abuse or are at risk of abusing and working with Church personnel who have sexual behaviour issues.
Workshops at the conference will address the needs of formators and others involved in training, as well as recruitment and screening for volunteers or employees, including health, education and welfare personnel.
Of particular interest is her talk on The impact of abuse in the Church on priests and Religious men: understanding the past, living in the present and preparing a future of safe environments. This will also involve understanding the problem and who abuses.
In discussing “The practical issues of preventing abuse”, Ms Applewhite will discuss screening and selection for candidates and priests and Religious from overseas; formation in professional standards and behaviours, screening, selecting and training for employees and volunteers; and accountability, wellness and codes of conduct.