By Anthony Barich
PRIESTS who previously relied on the Vatican to back them up when
accused of sexual abuse can no longer do so because of the reforms put
in place by Pope Benedict XVI in 2000.
So said a consultant for the US Bishops specialising in standards of care and the dynamics of abuse in educational and religious environments.
Due to the efforts of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the balance of power has shifted, said Monica Applewhite, who helped create an accreditation system for the Conference of Major Superiors of Men in the US to hold them accountable to the highest standards of child protection.
“It is important to know that in Pope Benedict XVI we have the individual who has seen more cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church than perhaps anyone else in the world. I believe he knows how serious the problem is and that he understands the sacrifices that have to be made to fix it,” she told the NCR.
Ms Applewhite helped develop systems in the US in consultation with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to hold offending priests accountable for how they spent their time, whom they visited and whether the people in their lives were aware of the sexual abuse they had committed.
She said that when she began working with priests who had sexually offended they would sometimes try to intimidate her with threats that if they “sent their case to Rome” to appeal how they were treated, that they would “win”.
“Many times I heard, ‘you are in violation of my rights’ and they felt they clearly had the upper hand,” she told National Catholic Register on 15 April.
“Since that time, and particularly since 2000, the balance of power has shifted. I have since worked with many priests and Religious who have sexually offended against minors and if you ask them today, they would be very unlikely to assume that “Rome” is on their side.
“Today, clerical and Religious sexual offenders recognise they can be laicized for their crimes for a failure to adhere to obedience.”
This gives much more leverage, she said, in terms of ensuring adherence to saftety provisions.
“Several men I know have ‘tested’ the CDF and found no tolerance for sexual abuse in the priesthood and no sympathy for the cleric who disagrees with programmes of prayer and penance.”
Evidence of where Pope Benedict XVI stands on sex abuse can be found in the fact that:
l It was he who declared the use of Internet and other forms of child pornography to be a “grave delict” (a civil wrong permitting compensation) – the same as a contact offense with a minor. He came to this conclusion at a time when many criminal jurisdictions were still debating the criminality of Internet porn.
l Victims of sex abuse who met with Pope Benedict in the US were “deeply touched” by their meeting, saying they felt like he knew their cases personally. “It is possible he did or that he has just known so many that are similar,” Ms Applewhite said. “I believe he knows how serious the problem is and that he understands the sacrifices that have to be made to fix it.”
l When he became Pope, he appointed Cardinal William Levada from the US – “clearly the country most likely to produce a stringent successor” – as Prefect of the CDF.