The Church’s Chance To Really Protect Kids

There was an announcement in August of the first lawsuit in Minnesota under the Child Victims Act. This is the law that has opened the window on any claim for the sexual abuse of a child in Minnesota for the next three years. The old statute of limitation that prevented claims after  24 years of age has been expanded.

According to the Raw Story, The Church responded to the announcement with the following:

The diocese and archdiocese released a written statement Wednesday declaring that it has done more than its share to prevent child sexual abuse.

“Few, if any, other organizations have instituted such rigorous measures to protect young people,” said the statement. “We believe that the abuse of young people is always a tragedy, and a social problem that should be confronted by all sectors of society.”

This opening of the claims will test this statement to it’s very core. Because it is true that they have lists of who has been abusing and who has been abused. It is true that they transferred Priests who were on that list. It is true that they have been confronted by survivors, survivors’ families, other priests, nuns, and many laypeople concerning the priests on their lists.

If they truly mean what is in this statement, they will work to clean up the mess that they have created. They will open the doors and allow light to shine upon their actions and inaction.

They needed to use the zero tolerance doctrine to shine light on what happened and to ensure that it would never happen again. They need to stop moveing priests around and to quit putting them in situations which allow great access to kids. They needed to stop hiding.

Abuse of children and the continued silence by the offenders needs to be prevented. If you suffered, saw, or suspected such events, it is important to know that there is help out there.