Generally unknown, ignored
The great values taught by Jesus of Nazareth to respect, protect and care for children are generally unknown, and his call to bring abusers to justice is also generally ignored. This is the great failure of the institutional Church. With exceptions, it mainly counts success on the number of baptized members, and most of its clerics are isolated and removed from the suffering of people, particularly victims of human rights violations.
Most of the clergy repeatedly perform rituals and give irrelevant theological speeches. As an institution, the Church has lost its main purpose to transform society by motivating people to actively do good and oppose every evil with the conviction that they will win. This is faith, aimed at creating a society where equality, justice, truth, freedom, and human rights and dignity are experienced daily.
Many clerics have abused and are abusing children themselves with impunity and are protected by silence and inaction. This has disgraced the institution with regard to child protection. Only by the courage of some of its true leaders and dedicated members of the People of God does the light of truth and action for justice for children continue to burn brightly.
A recent Unicef-Interpol report said 90 percent of the online grooming for sexual abuse of children occurred on Facebook. However, it is still clear that the majority of child sexual abuse acts are done by family members. Child defenders and nongovernmental organizations are campaigning and educating students, parents and teachers to report abuse and help child abuse victims get justice.
What people can do is to oppose the seeming social acceptance of and apathy over child sexual abuse by institutions and the wider public. About 40 percent of mothers of the 62 sexually abused children in Preda’s therapy home have chosen to protect their rapist husband or partner rather than standing with their children to demand justice. This is devastating emotionally for the children. When judges postpone hearings, the children’s suffering increases.
Church authorities must act against the abusers in their ranks and end impunity. The Church must become a beacon of child rights by cooperating with truly independent children’s rights’ organizations to pursue justice for the victims. They should end the obstruction of legal action and allow offenders to be brought to justice in the civil courts. The Church’s internal safeguarding program should bring those clerics to justice in those same courts.
Only when a strong movement of people realizing the extent of child sexual abuse and demanding action by all authorities would there be hope to reduce it. If not, the abuse will continue to grow./PN
