“The Church has not yet taken any initiative to provide more clarity about why there are so many perpetrators in that institution.” This was said by child psychiatrist Peter Adriaenssens, who was heard on Monday in the Sexual Abuse inquiry committee in Parliament. “We need a change. The Church must call on the perpetrators to its staff to come forward.”
“We still know nothing about the perpetrators in the Church,” Adriaenssens said. “Why is it that so many priests in so many countries have abused children? How come this has crept into one organization on such a massive scale? Research into this could provide us with knowledge that may be useful for the prevention of abuse in large organizations in general.”
Rome leaves every country simmering in its own misery. Every time a country has to search and set up committees, with apparently no central guidance whatsoever.
But the Church does not take any initiative, the psychiatrist criticized. “In 2010, we had the illusion that the reports would encourage Rome to call on everyone worldwide to come forward with this problem. That didn’t happen. Rome leaves every country simmering in its own misery. Every time a country has to search and set up committees, with apparently no central guidance whatsoever. We are now talking about hundreds of thousands of children in the world.”
In addition, the Church should also work on financial compensation, Adriaenssens thought. “The Church should provide a monthly benefit to the victim, giving him or her tangible monthly recognition of what happened. In our world, money has become part of recognition.”
Finally, the government could intervene by introducing one central reporting point for all forms of violence. Victims would then be immediately referred to the best available help. The reporting points are currently too fragmented, the psychiatrist found.
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