Programme on Rome sex abuse cover-up was 'grossly incorrect'

Tuesday October 3rd 2006

GRAVELY misleading claims were made in the BBC 'Panorama' programme about the Church document Crimen Sollicitationis and a supposed global conspiracy by the Vatican to cover up clerical sexual abuse.

The programme also set out to inflict maximum damage on Pope Benedict XVI by portraying him as the architect of this cover-up. The basis of this malicious, false assertion was the misleading, inaccurate interpretation of sections of the document.

The document does not invite bishops or any ecclesiastical authority to cover up sexual abuse. Rather, it is a compendium of rules and procedures required to carry out an investigation of an allegation of misuse of the sacrament of confession by a priest - a rare but very serious allegation.

It is relevant to the issue of clerical sexual abuse of minors in so much that it equates, as far as penalties go, the most serious crime of sexual abuse with other very serious sexual crimes.

Unfortunately, the programme attempted to construct a theory that this document authorised bishops to follow a policy of cover-up. Tragically, this turned out to be the primary aim of the programme, as it deflected from the horror of child abuse.

The Church has always had internal disciplinary processes for dealing with serious crimes committed by priests. These processes in no way impede civil investigations or prejudice civil courts from imposing penalties.

It is claimed the document imposed secrecy; in fact, this was nothing more than hat we understand as the good practice of confidentiality when concerning the reputations of people against whom allegations have been made. This is normally understood as a right of natural justice, not conspiracy.

The document contained penalties for Church personnel who were indiscreet with this information, and it asked the same discretion of witnesses interviewed during a process; but does not contain any automatic penalty, as asserted in the programme.

As head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger has taken a consistently tough line on priests who have abused children, scrupulously working to rid the Church of this "filth", as he described it. He has dismissed five priests from the diocese of Ferns and many others throughout the world who have been convicted of this crime.

He has strongly and consistently asserted, in line with his predecessor, that there is no room in the Catholic priesthood or religious life for anyone who would harm the young.

Fr Michael Mullaney is a senior lecturer in Canon

Law at St Patrick's

College, Maynooth

Fr Michael Mullaney

? Irish Independent