Putting Itself Above the Law

Civil authorities and victims of child abuse in the United States should have zero tolerance for the Vatican’s latest reluctance to take the crisis in the Catholic Church seriously.

Before news of Catholic priests sexually abusing children became public, the church hierarchy showed little respect for the children whom priests had abused. Church officials simply moved a priest accused of sexual abuse in one parish to another. Often, no one bothered to notify civil authorities that a child had claimed he or she was molested. It’s called sweeping the dirt under the rug, and in the long run it always makes things worse.

When accusations against priests became epidemic, the Catholic hierarchy finally decided to do something. Some archdioceses in the U.S. agreed to cooperate with civil authorities by notifying them of alleged abuses.

Finally, in June, the U.S. bishops met in Dallas and decided that as a matter of policy, the church had to make protecting innocent victims its first concern.

The bishops, admitting they had been at fault, called for laypeople to watch over the review of abuse cases. Grasping that the church in the U.S. was reeling under the scandal, the bishops called for zero tolerance in dealing with sexual abuse. Under that policy, a priest, deacon or any other church employee facing a credible allegation of sexual abuse would be temporarily removed and all accusations reported to civil authorities.

Last weekend, the Vatican hesitated at the zero-tolerance policy adopted in Dallas and balked at opening the church to scrutiny by laypeople. It plans a joint commission of the Vatican and U.S. bishops to work out changes to make American archdioceses’ sex-abuse policy conform with canon law.

Without the Vatican’s approval, the U.S. bishops’ policy is not binding. Worse, the Vatican’s response gives bishops who were initially reluctant to implement the tough, victim-oriented policy the perfect excuse to further delay it.

While the Vatican dawdles, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony has promised that his archdiocese, which includes Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, will continue to enforce the zero-tolerance policy.

Other U.S. bishops vow to stay the course set in Dallas, understanding, perhaps, what the Vatican doesn’t: that the need to address child molestation is urgent, and any alleged abuser, whether a priest or a bricklayer, is accountable not just to the church but to the police and the criminal courts.