Clerical Abuse: ‘One Strike -You’re Out’ Rule for Global Church?

Nov 22, 2024 | 0 comments

Hans Zollner SJ

Organisations active in support of victims of clerical abuse in the Catholic Church called on November 19th in Rome for a global law of zero tolerance and automatic removal from ministry of any cleric guilty of even a single crime of sexual abuse.

On the World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse members activist groups met in Rome – including Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) and the Institute of Anthropology’s Interdisciplinary Studies on Human Dignity and Care (IADC) – to discuss the issue. They called for  the permanent removal of clerical abusers and an official agency to investigate the handling of abuse cases by church superiors.

“Safeguarding is not just a legal or organizational matter—it is a moral and spiritual imperative,” said Hans Zollner SJ – a leading church expert on child safeguarding and director of the IADC. “Only by confronting the past openly and taking decisive action can we begin to rebuild the trust that has been so severely broken.”

This follows a widespread loss of confidence in Vos Estis Lux Mundi, the Vatican document issued in 2019 to oblige bishops to act decisively to report and deal with abuse.

“We have no idea how many bishops have been investigated under Vos Estis. BishopAccountability tries to count them, but the information is so vague,” according to Anne Barrett Doyle, who has tracked clergy abuse over decades as a co-director of the BishopAccountability.org website

Nicholas Cafardi, a canon lawyer from the United States, believes that global adoption of the U.S. policy of “one strike, you’re out” is the logical next step. “Once you have that law, you don’t have to rely on bishops requesting it in every country — it simply becomes the rule.”

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ACI’s Campaign for Lumen Gentium 37

The Promise of Synodality

What we have experienced of synodality so far gives ACI real hope that a longstanding structural injustice in the church may at last be acknowledged and overcome.

As all Irish bishops well know, the 'co-responsibility' they urge lay people to share - as numbers and energies of clergy decline - has been sabotaged time and again by canonical rules that deny representational authority and continuity to parish pastoral councils.  ACI's 2019 call for the immediate honouring of Lumen Gentium Article 37 becomes more urgent by the day and is supported by the following documents - also presented to the ICBC in October 2019.

The Common Priesthood of the People of God and the Renewal of the Church
It was Catholic parents and victims of clerical abuse who taught Catholic Bishops to prioritise the safeguarding of children in the church

Jesus as Model for the Common Priesthood of the People of God
It was for challenging religious hypocrisy and injustice that Jesus was accused and crucified. He is therefore a model for the common priesthood of the laity and for the challenging of injustice - in society and within the church.

A Suggested Strategy for the Recovery of the Irish and Western Catholic Church
Recovery of the church depends upon acknowledgment of the indispensable role of the common priesthood of the lay people of God and the explicit abandonment by bishops and clergy of paternalism and clericalism - the expectation of deference from lay people rather than honesty and integrity.

For the full story of ACI's campaign for the honouring of Article 37 of Lumen Gentium, click here.

Prayer

"Come Holy Spirit, Renew Your wonders in this our day, as by a new Pentecost. Grant to Your Church that, being of one mind and steadfast in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and following the lead of blessed Peter, it may advance the reign of our Divine Saviour, the reign of truth and justice, the reign of love and peace. Amen."

Saint Pope John XXIII, 1962 - In preparation for Vatican Council II, 1962-65.

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