Sexual abuse documents in force, says church

PAPUA New Guinea approved its documents that deal with sexual abuse of minors by priests in 2006, revised them in 2013 and are now in force, according to the Catholic Bishops Conference.
Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG and Solomon Islands general secretary Fr Giorgio Licini said through the provision of these documents, there would be no underestimation, no neglect of victims and no cover ups in any case reported.
“With the so-called sexual abuse crisis erupting around the year 2002, the central government of the Church in Rome directed all the Bishops Conferences in different countries to put in place measures to address and possibly solve the problem,” he said.
The documents consist of two protocols and one set of guidelines regarding right relationships in ministry dealing with issues of sexual abuse of a minor by a cleric, issues of criminal sexual abuse by a cleric, religious or church worker and issues of sexual misconduct by a cleric, religious or church worker.
The general purpose of the documents is to ensure there is proper, correct and just response to incidents, Fr Giorgio said.
“The protocols and the guidelines are handled by the Board of Right Relationships in Ministry whose chair is Bishop Gilles Côté of Daru-Kiunga and the director is Sr Ancy John.
“The office is located at the CBC compound, Gordon, Port Moresby.
“When an alleged case is reported, generally firstly at the local level, the protocols and guidelines provide the path to follow both internally for the church, from the local diocese or religious congregation to the national level, to the highest levels of the Catholic Church in Rome if needed as well as in relation with police and civil authorities,” he said.
On the Feb 20-24, 2019 all presidents of Bishops Conferences would be called to Rome at a meeting with the Pope for a general assessment of the work being done and further initiatives on this
issue.
Meantime, Fr Giorgio said young people preparing for priestly ministry and religious work in the church needed sensitisation on the protection of minors and avoid issues of sexual abuse of children by clergymen as prevention is better than cure.
“There should be ample lessons, courses and workshops on the protection of minors offered to those preparing to be laymen and clerics,” he said.