ANTIGONISH: The Bishop of the Diocese of Antigonish says the release of new guidelines for the church is very important as there’s a real sense of crisis surrounding sexual abuse.
To stimulate a cultural transformation in attitudes about sexual abuse, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) released a document bringing their existing guidelines up to date; including protocols to ensure victims’ interest comes first.
“Protecting Minors from Sexual Abuse: A Call to the Catholic Faithful in Canada for Healing, Reconciliation, and Transformation,” is directed to all Catholic clergy, including bishops, priests and deacons, members of religious communities, and also lay personnel who work in Catholic parishes or church organizations.
Bishop Brian Dunn said the new guidelines are the first comprehensive review of policies for dealing with sexual abuse since the 1992 document “From Pain to Hope.”
“It’s been about 25 years since the last document came out and lots of things have been learned since then,” he said. “Having this document that puts the victim first, having a document to deal with this is a very important development for the Canadian Church.”
The 184-page document put forward 69 recommendations inspired by nine lessons which bishops have learned through their collective experiences over the past quarter century, chief among these is that victims must come first. Another recommendation calls for the end of confidentiality agreements in settlements with victims.
Dunn said he thinks in the past, the tendency seemed to be protecting the institution and the priests.
“In the sense of the reputation of the priest or the reputation of the church [it] would be at odds, if something came out of sexual abuse,” he said. “Now there is a real understanding what abuse does to a person, as a result that person is put first.”
With this document, Canada’s bishops reaffirm their commitment to continue improving practices in their diocese with an emphasis on long-term prevention and pre-emptive action. In 2009, the Antigonish Diocese launched a class-action lawsuit and invited anybody who was the victim of abuse from 1950 to 2009 to come forward, after which there were a number of victims come forward.
Dunn said the new guidelines will be an added measure to ensure accusations of sexual abuse will be taken care of properly.
“In terms of any new victims, there’s no new victims coming forward right now. We hope that this is put behind us.”