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PDF versionVatican abuse summit: Expert blasts denial on global dimension of crisis
by John L Allen Jr on Feb. 07, 2012
ROME -- One of America’s leading experts on the Catholic abuse crisis effectively told church leaders from different parts of the world today that if they think sexual abuse is not a problem in their neighborhood, they’re kidding themselves.
“Church leaders around the world began by saying, ‘This is only an American problem’,” Monsignor Stephen Rossetti told a Vatican symposium this morning. “Then, as more cases surfaced in other countries, they said, ‘This is an English speaking problem.’ Then, as the circle of abuse cases widened, they expanded it to: ‘This is a Western problem.’ The boundaries were pushed back farther and farther.”
“Each time, church leaders said, in effect, ‘It doesn’t happen here’,” Rossetti said.
Rossetti, former director of the St. Luke’s Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland, which treats abuser priests, has written widely on the crisis. He said that in reality, all the available data, based on studies by secular experts, concur that child abuse occurs at the same high rates across the various continents.
“If there are people in the church today who are thinking that this is not a problem in their country, I urge them to speak to those who work with children,” he said. “Contact those who generously run programs for abused children or staff child abuse hotlines. Find out what is being said behind closed doors.”
Rossetti’s remarks came as part of a four-day symposium on clerical sexual abuse, titled “Towards Healing and Renewal.” The audience is largely composed of bishops and superiors of religious orders from around the world, who have until May to comply with a Vatican mandate to come up with anti-abuse policies if they don’t presently have them.
“Any denial of the frequent sexual molestation of minors around the globe is an echo of the very denial perpetrators use to keep their evil hidden,” Rossetti said. “When we fail to expose this evil to the light of day, it continues secretly to pollute the church from within.”
In terms of how the Catholic church should respond to abuse, Rossetti raised a caution about policies which encourage rapid laicization of abuser priests, meaning formal removal from the priesthood. Rossetti suggested that at least in some cases, a better strategy may be removal from ministry but keeping the priest on the books, thereby providing church leaders more leverage to insist on supervision and treatment.
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“If priest-perpetrators are dismissed from the clerical state, they are completely out of the church’s control and so the best we can do is hope that civil society will supervise them,” Rossetti said. “However, most offenders are not successfully prosecuted in civil courts.”
The overriding criterion for deciding what to do, he argued, should be what’s most likely to keep children safe – as opposed, Rossetti said, to “demonizing” the offender.
Along with ticking off a series of mistakes the church has made historically in dealing with reports of child abuse, such as being conned and manipulated by abuser priests, Rossetti issued a series of twelve recommendations.
Those recommendations are:
- A Victims First policy. Every investigation should begin with listening to the victim. The victim, not the perpetrator, ought to be the first focus of the church’s attention.
- Church leaders should not handle these cases by themselves. They ought to have a panel of child sexual abuse experts in criminal investigation, law enforcement, canon law and mental health to investigate and advise the bishop.
- Proactively determine the truth about child sexual abuse in each country. Develop a comprehensive prevention program and implement it now.
- To promote the safety of children, and for the good of the offender, those who sexually molest minors should undergo a treatment program informed by modern treatment regimens and designed specifically to address their pathologies. These programs should not only intervene in their offense cycles, but also promote their living a healthy, virtuous life.
- For the safety of children and the welfare of the offender, the heinous nature of child sexual abuse ought to be widely known, but the offender ought not be demonized.
- From Benedict XVI: “It is therefore necessary for the church to be vigilant, to punish those who have sinned, and above all to exclude them from further access to children.”
- In countries with functioning and just criminal justice systems, church leaders ought to refer all allegations of child sexual abuse to civil authorities.
- Develop ‘Safety Plans’ for perpetrators of child sexual abuse that are based upon their level of risk. Supervise these men; keep them away from children; enforce the plans.
- Develop strong child-safe education programs that will create a climate that helps deter potential abusers.
- Provide psychosexual screening of candidates for the priesthood to include a comprehensive psychosexual history in a confidential, clinical interview by an experienced clinician.
- Provide extensive formation and on-going formation in healthy chaste psychosocial and psychosexual living for candidates to the priesthood and for priests. These programs ought to include effective emotional regulation, chaste management of one’s sexuality, and the formation of life-giving chaste friendships with peers.
- Church leaders should be educated on the ‘Red Flags’ that someone might become, or already is, a perpetrator of child sexual abuse. When significant ‘Red Flags’ or boundary violations surface, interventions should restore proper boundaries and assess and intervene as appropriate.
In comments to the press after his presentation, Rossetti offered a mixed assessment of where the church stands vis-à-vis the fight against child abuse.
The Catholic church moves slowly, he said, which means that “children are going to be abused while we’re learning, and that’s a sad state of affairs.”
Yet once the church turns a corner, Rossetti argued, its momentum is basically irresistible.
“When the church finally gets it, and I think it’s starting to get it, it will be a powerful force for change,” he said.
CATHOLICS DON'T BUY IT .....
CATHOLICS DON'T BUY IT ..... John, Rossetti must know well by now that his advice is falling on a deaf hierarchy. It is not that the pope has failed; he never really tried to clean up the abuse mess. He sold out to the Roman curia decades ago to advance his career. He knows it; the curia knows it. The curia mandates protecting subservient bishops at all costs. When a bishop merely mentions married or women priests; the pope swats him like a bug. Pedophile protecting, but subservient, bishops, on the other hand, get a papal promotion.
Forget the mystical smokescreens you too often relay from Rome. Look at what the pope actually does to determine what he really wants to happen. Save your ink and focus instead on the bankruptcies and prosecutions that sadly now are the Church's best hope for stimulating needed reforms. Painful, yes, but not as painful as watching shameless hierarchical hypocrites feather their own nests while sacrificing innocent children at their pagan altar of self-indulgence.
RIGHT. CATHOLICS DON'T BUY
RIGHT. CATHOLICS DON'T BUY IT....What an absolute lot of claptrap from Rossetti who is like so many of the bishops and provinical superiors. People like Rossetti, the bishops, they knew; they always knew. If Rossetti doesn't accept as fact what has been going on and why it is because he is very much a part of the problem like the bishops. Rossetti mentions that the "the offender ought not be demonized." If ever there was a belief in "demons" it is when speaking about anyone who sexual abuses, rapes an infant or young child or a handicapped, immobile or vulnerable adult. They are narcissistic sociopaths and yes, they are "demons." And speaking of "demons" when will the actions of all those bishops who trashed, harassed, bullied and shunned victims and their parents and their families be addressed formally? When will the actions of those bishops who fired women whose sons and daughters were raped on a regular basis while they were "on duty" in the rectory answering the phone etc? When will the actions of those bishops and other lower level lackeys who saw young boys going up the rectory stairs to Father's room and then and down again on a regular basis and did nothing be disciplined? When will the truth be admitted to and all the records released about all the transfers that were made when the bishop know what Father's real problem was beyond the "code words?" What about the known sexual predators who are supposedly "restricted" who come and go from their supposedly "secured" and "monitored" residences as they please? Who have ready access to cash and transportation? Who think they are "normal" and everyone else is out of step? Again what we have here is but another example of those who knew and did little other than to protect as much as possible the reputation of the priest and the image of the institution. One could go on and on and on.... Like the Angels, there are Demons and there are Demons. The clerical perps are but one level in a hierarchy of Demons. When will they be cast out?
My confidence in the value of
My confidence in the value of this conference when straight down the toilet when I read that Rossetti was to be the sole 'expert' and Richard Sipe and Tom Doyle were not even invited. St Luke's has very little to brag about when it comes to effectively dealing with priest predators.
If Rossetti is going to speak
If Rossetti is going to speak on the sexual abuse of anybody as an "expert" from St. Luke's in Silver Spring, MD, shouldn't he speak out on the solicitation and sexual abuse of young men and other priests by priests and bishops?
The following is an excerpt
The following is an excerpt from an interview of Rosetti by newsman Tim Russert wherein Rosetti admits to hiding the names of pedophile priests from civil authorities. Rosetti was one of the architects of a massive US cover-up and the retrurn to ministry of men he considered to be a risk, and now he is pretending to be at the vanguard of reform.
Rather, he is doing what he always did: protecting priests and priesthood over the welfare of children. He should not have any authority in these matters any longer, nor should he be allowed any access to documents amassed by any academic center.
http://www.jknirp.com/mtp2.htm
MR. RUSSERT: ...a threat of losing accreditation. And one of the points that the state of Maryland pointed out--and I'll show you and our viewers--"St. Luke Institute, the Catholic Church-sponsored psychiatric hospital for priests, has been cited by Maryland health officials for failing to report to police instances of suspected child abuse by its patients. In a report released [Wednesday], health inspectors said they found no records showing that St. Luke has given police the names of priests who said in the therapy that they had abused children." Why was that your policy and have you now changed it?
FR. ROSSETTI: Tim, that was not our policy. That was--we have a letter from the attorney general, the state of Maryland, 1991, saying that out-of-state cases that occur out of the state of Maryland are not required to be reported by law. And, thus, the privilege--the privacy of our patients by law needs to be respected. So we are obligated by law not to report out-of-state cases, and we do report in-state cases, so, in fact, we were following the law.
This looks promising. With
This looks promising. With so many points, he seems to "get it". One concern is have is "8.Develop ‘Safety Plans’ for perpetrators of child sexual abuse that are based upon their level of risk. Supervise these men; keep them away from children; enforce the plans." If someone is a perpetrator of abuse, they should be in jail for a period of time. Upon their release, such a 'safety plan' would need to be implemented as these offenders are never fully rehabilitated and always a danger. I wish he would have clarified that a 'safety plan' is secondary and in addition to 'legal punishment'.
When an organization claiming
When an organization claiming to be followers of Jesus of Nazareth must hold endless meetings, committees, summits, seminars and now a Roman extravaganza in order to learn that child raping priests and bishops should be stopped, well, it appears that a sacramental failure has occured, and that the apple has fallen far from the tree, to say the least.
Cardinal William Levada has yet to explain why, as archbishop of San Francisco, he placed known pedophile Rev. Gregory Ingels in charge of establishing sex abuse policies for the entire Church in the United States. Levada admitted under oath that he knew Ingels was a child rapist since 1996, but appointed him as his chancellor and chief canon lawyer anyway. Ingels was indicted and then the charges were dropped only because of statute of limitations.
Whenever Cardinal Levada is attempting to speak with authority about clergy sex abuse of children, and Mr. Allen reports about it, they both must forget that Levada's own actions prove he believes pedophile priests should be promoted, not incarcerated, making his refined speeches about helping victims all about hypocrisy and deceit.
AW
Cardinal Levada. Ah, yes
Cardinal Levada. Ah, yes ---
http://www.mgr.org/LevadaTrajectory-Details.html
A true sign of repentance
A true sign of repentance would be all the bishops, including the bishop of Rome,go to the Tiber, and throw in their mitres (those funny hats they wear.... Don't know why) and resign immediately.
What a joke, Rosetti says to keep the molesters priests so the Church can control them!!!
That's the whole problem.... They are not controlled. They are taken off ministry and have absolutely nothing to do but roam around. A Carmelite in Florida was given a new sports car and what was basically a life long vacation.
Guess what.? He's in jail...... The State of Florida will now take care of him..... The Carmelites couldn't be bothered
Rossetti's expertise is not
Rossetti's expertise is not at all related to the protection of children or treating victims. We know he has some experience treating the perps, but his effectiveness in this effort has never been proven. We do know that he provided some cover for the bishops, who evidently enjoyed the legal protections associated with sending perps across state lines for treatment. John Allen gives Rossetti a strong hearing, but why does John do this? Why should we listen to Rossetti?
I notice in the quotes of
I notice in the quotes of Msgr. Rossetti that he seems to be talking about the prevalence of child-abuse around the world, and not limited to the Church. If that is true, then the Church, like any large human organization, is called upon to somehow deal with what appears to be a widespread and long-standing issue in human history and experience and not simply in the Church.
And in regard to his recommendations for a Victim-First policy, that seems quite solid. But I ask the question that professionals from across the spectrum might ask: from the standpoint of a third-party observer (i.e. any human being other than an actual victim, the perpetrator, and perhaps a direct witness), when does a 'victim status' attach?
Does it attach (or 'begin') when a person makes a report? Or is that person better termed a 'provisional' victim? (The usual workhorse term 'alleged' is apparently no longer acceptable, although it covers the ground well enough.)
When a person is demonstrated by corroborating evidence to be probably relating a true story?
Or does it attach when a person's story/report/claim is accepted by a jury and a perpetrator is convicted?
I ask because any Bishop has to face this question from Day One of an allegation and it doesn't seem to be an easy one to answer responsibly. (Although, as in all difficult matters, it can be made to look much easier than it is simply by cutting corners or otherwise ignoring the difficulties.)
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