What does the Catholic Church teach us about child abuse?

Answer 1

Child abuse in the Catholic church is a mortal sin. Anyone who abuses a child, physically, mentally, emotionally, sexually, psychologically, or who neglects a child by not providing for his/her needs (refusing to pay child support, refusing to feed, clothe, house, or provide medical care) is guilty of GRAVE ERROR. The perpetrator of such most confess his sins, vow never to do it again, and make restitution to the victim, and obtain counseling.

Anyone who observes above and does nothing also commits a mortal sin.

Answer 2

The Catholic Church clearly teaches the sexual abuse of children to be gravely sinful. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church's list of moral offences, one finds: "...any sexual abuse perpetrated by adults on children or adolescents entrusted to their care. The offense is compounded by the scandalous harm done to the physical and moral integrity of the young, who will remain scarred by it, all their lives; and the violation of responsibility for their upbringing." The following passages are from the teachings of the bible. Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42; and Luke 17:2 Jesus tells his disciples, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea." Ephesians 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Matthew 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Galatians 5:19-25

- covers many of the behaviours that lead to child abuse, and conversely the behaviours that prevent it. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Romans 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. The Catholic Church clearly teaches the sexual abuse of children to be gravely sinful. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church's list of moral offences, one finds: "...any sexual abuse perpetrated by adults on children or adolescents entrusted to their care. The offense is compounded by the scandalous harm done to the physical and moral integrity of the young, who will remain scarred by it, all their lives; and the violation of responsibility for their upbringing." The following passages are from the teachings of the bible. Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42; and Luke 17:2 Jesus tells his disciples, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea." Ephesians 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Matthew 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Galatians 5:19-25

- covers many of the behaviours that lead to child abuse, and conversely the behaviours that prevent it. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Romans 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Answer 3

Another answer from our community:

Prosecute the perpetrators. One can be truly Christian and still sin. Some perpetrators can't control their behavior. The boundary should be on behavior, not a religious test.

Ensure its members are truly Christian in their behavior and not evil hypocrites who prey on the innocent. Everyone sins, but the problem is that sin is so often tolerated and even encouraged. The way to deal with sin is to know the one who can give the power over sin. The Bible also talks about the value of confessing and forsaking sin, not hiding and tolerating it.

Answer 4

It is not just a sin, it is a crime which should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

It is a very serious or "Mortal Sin". In other words it is so grave a sin that it cuts the sinner off from God, and their immortal soul is imperiled unless they genuinely repent, confess their sins with the firm resolve not to sin again and to perform a prescribed Penance. In the gospel of St Matthew it says that if anyone hurts a little child, it would be better for them to have a millstone hung round their neck and to be cast into the sea.

Answer 5

The Lord Jesus says "If anyone harms one of these little ones of mine...it would have been better for them had they had a millstone around their neck and had been cast into the depths of the sea." Just wait till He gets His hands on them on Judgment Day...that is what the Church teaches...the peodphile priests in the news are not Christians nor children of God and believe me the Lord is not happy with the shame they brough on His name either, nor is He happy with those others that covered it up...they likewise have taken the Lord's name in Vain...

Answer 6

A:

The Catholic Church teaches the sexual abuse of children to be gravely sinful. The Catechism of the Catholic Church lists sexual abuse of children as a moral offence: "...any sexual abuse perpetrated by adults on children or adolescents entrusted to their care. The offense is compounded by the scandalous harm done to the physical and moral integrity of the young, who will remain scarred by it, all their lives; and the violation of responsibility for their upbringing."

The straight forward teaching of the Catholic Church on the subject is not the limit of the Church's position. It also holds that priests are rarely the perpetrators of abuse, only conceding otherwise when overwhelming evidence forces it to do so. There are ways to avoid this evidence becoming publicly known, including moving offenders elsewhere and reaching secrecy agreements with victims. This teaches that the reputation of the Church is more important than justice for victims.

The Catholic Church also teaches that any systemic problems in its handling of these matters is in the past, and that the Church is now committed to cooperating fully with the civil authorities to bring guilty members of the Church hierarchy to justice and ensure just compensation for victims. Time will tell.

Answer 7

Some in the Catholic Church believe that responsibility is met by removing the perpetrator from contact with children and requiring him to confess his sins. They prefer that the matter not become public in case the image of the Church is damaged. Others go further and say that Child abuse in the Catholic church must be reported to the responsible authorities so that the victim can receive justice.

A recent example of this conundrum occurred in Australia, when a priest admitted to three senior Catholic clergy that he had repeatedly sexually abused boys as young as ten years old. The clergy to whom this confession was made wrote a report to the responsible bishop, Bishop Kevin Manning. The matter was never reported to the police. It appears that at least two of the victims received substantial payouts from the Church, but later both committed suicide. Cardinal Pell, in spite of recent Church history of child abuse and cover-up, later insisted that the priest did not make the admissions to the three senior clergy, saying that a file note of the meeting proved this to be the case. The file note has not been disclosed but the written report of that meeting, containing admissions of criminal abuse, is now in the public domain. If anyone who is in a position to ensure justice but does nothing also commits a mortal sin, then the report of this matter seems to suggest that two of the most senior clergy in Australia may be in a state of mortal sin.

If the Catholic stance on child abuse is indeed reflected in the actions of its bishops and cardinals, this is very much at variance with the Church's public position on the issue.

Answer 8

It is not only the Catholic Church but all denominations, to at least some extent, that have paedophiles in their ranks. On the other hand, most clergy and laypersons are entirely innocent of paedophilia.

The first thing the Church should do as soon as there is a suspicion of child abuse by a member of the Church is to inform the police and other relevant authorities. It is not the role of the religious authorities to investigate these allegations, nor are they equipped forensically or are they sufficiently removed from the action to be certain to arrive at a correct and unbiased finding.

Too often, the response has been to obtain a confession, a prayer for forgiveness and a promise not to reoffend, after which the clergy or teacher is transferred to another area where he is not known and can reoffend with impunity. In other cases, the Church tries to deal with the crime internally, as if members of the Church have some special right not to be brought before the courts and tried properly. Usually, the penalties the Church would or could impose are absurdly mild, given the seriousness of these offences. For example, the Catholic Church's Code of Canon Law 1395:2 provides the following penalties for rape or paedophilia: "A cleric who has offended in other ways against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, if the crime was committed by force, or by threats, or in public, or with a minor under the age of sixteen years, is to be punished with just penalties, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state if the case so warrants." Even dismissal is never an adequate penalty and the courts must hear the evidence and, if guilt is established, impose a proper criminal penalty.

The greatest evil in the Churches is not even the perpetrators who commit these crimes of abuse. A much greater evil is the culture of cover-up. As long as any of the Churches is willing to say that it does not really have a problem; or that paedophilia is no more prevalent in the Church than elsewhere (an unprovable statement in any case); or that God will punish the sinner; or in any way attempts to divert attention and focus from the very issue of paedophilia in the Church, we will know there is a culture of ignoring and suppressing bad news in the supposed interests of the Church. As long as members of the Church do not promptly inform the police or other relevant civil authorities as soon as they are aware of suspicions of child abuse, then we will know there is a culture of avoiding the truth. As long as clergy, even bishops and above, lie or dissemble about what is known or what is being done, we will know there is a culture of cover-up. The Church needs to change its culture. First of all, it needs to learn what it teaches - the need for honesty. The Church needs to accept, publicly and openly, that there is a problem, and state publicly and openly what steps will be taken to remove this blot on the organisation. People will believe this - they do not believe what is being said by the churches now.

The role of the Church should be to establish a genuine moral principle that paedophilia is always wrong, and then educate all its ordained and lay members that child abuse will not be tolerated. The role of the Church should also be to educate all its ordained and lay members in recognising signs of potential child abuse so that they can assist in reporting a possible crime. The role of the Church should also be to educate every member of the hierarchy, to the very highest level, that no action should ever be taken to protect a perpetrator or an accessory to the crime. The Church should respect the children in its charge and be willing to believe their accusations, even against the most respected priests. The role of the Church should be to provide spiritual and moral support for possible victims but to let the police do the investigations. The Church needs to accept that merely to cover up the crime, even just by sin of omission, makes a member of the Church a possible accessory to the crime. The role of the Church is to ensure that all members of the Church hierarchy know and understand their legal obligations in the event that they become aware of a possible instance of child abuse. The role of the Church is not to investigate the crime nor to punish the offender: this is for the police and the judicial system.

Answer 9

The Catholic Church has a public position opposed to child abuse and another, very different position that is kept from the public.

The New Yorker Magazine reported in 14th January 2016 that the single figure most responsible for ignoring the extraordinary accumulation of depravity is Pope John Paul II, yet he was canonised in 2013. In fact, there is a long history of the Vatican covering up evidence of child sexual abuse by clergy and members of religious orders. As recently as February 2017, the Australian Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was frustrated by the Vatican's failure to provide documentation that would assist the Commission in its investigations.

4444 alleged victims of sexual abuse by members of the Church in Australia, during the previous 35 years, had come forward to testify to the Commission, which also acknowledges that in many more cases the victims had not come forward and may never report their abuse. The victims identified 1880 alleged perpetrators within the Catholic Church, including priests, religious brothers and sisters, and employees. Astonishingly, over 40 per cent of Brothers of St John of God were named, as well as more than 20 per cent of Marist Brothers, Salesians of the Don Bosco and Christian Brothers.

Far more important than the Church's public position on this, and its fine statements, is its willingness at all levels to ignore or cover up abuse, because this reflects the Catholic Church's real position on child abuse.

Answer 10

The Catholic Church has a public position opposed to child abuse and another, very different position that is kept from the public.

The New Yorker Magazine reported in 14th January 2016 that the single figure most responsible for ignoring the extraordinary accumulation of depravity is Pope John Paul II, yet he was canonised in 2013. In fact, there is a long history of the Vatican covering up evidence of child sexual abuse by clergy and members of religious orders. As recently as February 2017, the Australian Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was frustrated by the Vatican's failure to provide documentation that would assist the Commission in its investigations.

4444 alleged victims of sexual abuse by members of the Church in Australia, during the previous 35 years, had come forward to testify to the Commission, which also acknowledges that in many more cases the victims had not come forward and may never report their abuse. The victims identified 1880 alleged perpetrators within the Catholic Church, including priests, religious brothers and sisters, and employees. Astonishingly, over 40 per cent of Brothers of St John of God were named, as well as more than 20 per cent of Marist Brothers, Salesians of the Don Bosco and Christian Brothers.

Far more important than the Church's public position on this, and its fine statements, is its willingness at all levels to ignore or cover up abuse, because this reflects the Catholic Church's real position on child abuse.