Pope’s panel on sex abuse looking into caring for children of priests

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis’ committee of advisers on protecting children from sexually abusive priests is expanding its workload to include the needs and rights of children fathered by Roman Catholic priests.

Committee members said Sunday that a working group is looking into developing guidelines that can be used by dioceses around the world to ensure that children born to priests are adequately cared for.

“It’s a horrendous problem in many cultures, and it’s not something that is readily talked about,” member Dr. Krysten Winter-green said.

The issue is one the church has tried to keep under wraps for centuries because of the scandal of priests having sex. But it has gained visibility after Irish bishops developed and published a set of guidelines earlier this year that focused on ensuring the wellbeing of the priest’s child and the child’s mother, who often suffer psychological problems from the stigma and silence imposed on them by the church.

The Irish guidelines were believed to represent the first comprehensive public policy by a national bishops’ conference on the issue.

Committee member Bill Kilgallon briefed Francis last week on the decision of the group to take up the issue of priests’ children.

Kilgallon said that the issue falls under the broad mandate of the committee, which is officially known as the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and has as its mission the aim of promoting and protecting the dignity of minors and vulnerable adults.

“If someone fathers a child, they have a responsibility to that child, end of story,” Kilgallon said.

The issue has been placed on the church’s agenda thanks to a campaign by Vincent Doyle, an Irish psychotherapist who found late in life that his father was a priest. With the backing of the archbishop of Dublin, Doyle launched Coping International, an online resource to help eliminate the stigma he and others like him have faced.