RAPE AND RELIGION
Some Abuse Victims prefer church trial

From Southern Cross, front page, June 11th-17th 2003

CARDINAL NAPIER: SOME ABUSE VICTIMS PREFER CHURCH TRIAL

BY Michail Rassool.

Although the Church has agreed to cooperate with the authorities in assisting with the reporting of sex abuse cases committed within its ranks, the situation is not without legal 'grey areas', Cardinal Wilfred Napier, president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) told The Southern Cross

He said this was especially so since there is no legal obligation on the part of alleged victims to report their cases if they choose not to.
Many sensitive people do not wish their cases to be made public for the sake of privacy, or because of a deep sense of shame, Cardinal Napier said. They may prefer their cases to be handled by the professional conduct committeee of the Catholic Church and their processes of redress, he added.
Such situations, especially , call for a strong measure of sensitivity on the Church's part, he said, even if the person has been advised of their legal rights.

This is an issue that he wished to take with him to a meeting of the SACBC's national co-ordinating committed of the professional conduct committees set up in various dioceses, which was still due to take place at the time of going to press.

The legal dilemma outlined by Cardinal Napier suggests a different interpretation in such cases from that of the justice ministry.
In the wake of recent press revelations of alleged sexual abuse by priests, justice ministry spokesman Paul Seretse was quoted as saying that anyone in the Church who knew about any incidents of abuse, a serious crime, was legally obliged to report it to the police or other appropriate authority.

The bishops of Southern Africa have also stated that they 'are not above the law and that their primary concern in dealing with the matters under question is the paramouncy of the protection of children'
They said that in applying its protocol against the alleged sexual misconduct of its personnel , the Church went further than the legal processes.
It was applying its teachings on mercy and reconciliation, doing waht it can to protect victims based on the merits of a particular case, which provided a more far-reaching moral assessment, thus underscoring the importance of the internal process of redress.

Cardinal Napier said that the Church's protocol did not intend to usurp the criminal processes."Under no circumstances is this a substitute justice system' , Cardinal Napier pointed out. He said that if the whole purpose is to remove the abuisers from society,"far away from situations where they are likely to recommit their abuses, then the protocol has served its purpose".

© Speak Out Terms of use