COVERING UP FOR ABUSERS IS ILLEGAL

NEWS related to sexual abuse in the church continues to get regular media coverage because reports of abuse, and detailed cover-ups by church leaders, continue to be exposed around the world. While every priest may not be a predator, the actions that church leaders took to hide priests while silencing victims is abusive, dangerous and, most importantly, illegal.

The abuse scandals overtaking the Catholic Church are not just related to isolated incidences of abuse by priests; documents have shown that not only did church leaders know about abuse allegations, but also failed to report it to authorities, failed to protect their church members and failed to dismiss abusers – for decades.

Instead, church leaders conspired with one another to move abusers to new communities. Leaders ignored reports of abuse, paid settlements to victims while demanding their silence, promoted those who covered up abuses, and retired abusers with a full pension. Recent reports state that knowledge of the abuse extended all the way to the pope.

We cannot relate the abuses to an inability to maintain a vow of celibacy. Celibacy is restraining from marriage and sexual relationships with consenting adults. Targeting vulnerable children and grooming them to perform sex acts on adults is not a violation of celibacy. It is paedophilia. It is rape. And it is illegal.

SATISH DULLAY

Johannesburg