Old habits die hard -- Min jitwieled tond ma jmutx kwadru

Just before last Christmas, on 15th December 2017, the final report of the Royal Commission into institutional response to sexual abuse of children was presented to Australia’s Governor General.  The endeavours of 680 people working with the commission were made over a period of 5 years, which was an extension of the original 3 years assigned by the then Labor government of Julia Gillard.

 

There were almost 8000 persons who were heard in private sessions, who implied almost 3500 institutions in sexual abuse of children.  58% said that the abuse happened in a religious institution.

 

For those thinking that the Royal Commission and/or the Australian government and/or the media were picking on the Catholic Church, it is good to note that of those saying they were abused in religious institutions, 61.4% suffered this abuse in an institution of the Catholic Church.  In other words, more abuse happened in Catholic institutions than in institutions of all other religions combined.  The second highest religious affiliation cited was the Anglican Church with 14.8%.1

 

These figures are sad (I hope) for those who like mark ‘Catholic’ in those forms we encounter in which we are asked to state our religious affiliation.

 

The report contained 17 volumes, which deal with:

• •understanding sexual abuse in institutional settings; 

• •how institutions might become child safe; 

• •what kinds of treatment and support are needed for abuse survivors; 

• •the types of institutions in which sexual abuse occurred; historical residential (prior to 1990); out-of-home care; schools; sport, recreation, culture, community or hobby groups; places of detention; religious; 

• •what needs to happen after the end of the commission. 

 

Every volume has its own recommendations, and in all 189 were made.  Of those specific to the Catholic Church, a few that stood out for me were that:

• •confessions be held in an open space, and only when the child is visible by another adult, or else not be held at all (Rec. 16.48).  This is because some of the abuse happened in the confessional; 

• •the pontifical secret no longer applies to cases of child sexual abuse.  This is so there no longer be any impediment for such cases to be mandatorily reported to civil authorities by bishops or religious superiors (Rec. 16.10); 

• •clergy celibacy become optional (Rec. 16.18).  This was not because celibacy was considered a direct cause of abuse, but that in some circumstances contributed to abuse; 

• •clarification is sought from the Holy See whether information from a child during confession about sexual abuse is covered by confessional secrecy, as well as a person confessing to have committed child sexual abuse not being given absolution until this act is reported by him/herself to civil authorities (Rec. 16.26). 

 

On the latter two recommendations, 24 hours had not gone by before the Catholic Archibishops Hart of Melbourne and Fisher of Sydney had already declared that the secrecy of confessionals was inviolable and that the rule of celibacy should not be changed.2  They seemed to be doing all they could to confirm an observation of the Commission, which stated that ‘it appears that some candidates for leadership positions have been selected on the basis of their adherence to specific aspects of church doctrine …. rather than their capacity for leadership.’3

 

After all, these two recommendations, and some other directed at the Catholic Church, are decisions for the Holy See, not the bishops.  I noted that Pope Francis was much more cautious in his reaction to the Commission’s report, stating only that the report ‘is the result of the accurate efforts made by the Commission in recent years and deserves to be studied in depth’.4

 

I’ll conclude with two observations by the Commission:

• •10% of those abused as a child were in jail at the time of the Commission’s work.  This indicates that child sex abuse is a significant factor contributing to the future incarceration of an offender who started off as a victim;5 
• •some of the victims (0.7%) gave evidence to the Commission while being less than 10 years old.  This means that their abuse also happened within the last 10 years.6  Tragically, this insidious abuse, in an institutional context, is still occurring even with the youngest of kids. 

 

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Ftit qabel il-Milied li għadda, fil-15 ta’ Diċembru 2017, ġie ppreżentat lill-Gvernatur Ġenerali tal-Awstralja ir-rapport finali tal-Kummissjoni Rjali fuq ir-rispons ta’ istituzzjonijiet għall-abbuż sesswali fuq it-tfal.  Ix-xogħol tas-680 persuna li ħadmu ma’ din il-kummissjoni sar fuq perjodu ta’ ħames snin, li kienet estensjoni fuq it-tliet snin li kien ingħata fil-bidu mill-Gvern Laburista ta’ Julia Gillard ta’ dakinhar.

 

Kien hemm kważi 8000 persuna li nstemgħa l-każ tagħhom f’sessjonijiet privati, li implikaw kważi 3500 istituzzjoni f’abbuż sesswali tat-tfal.  58% qalu li l-abbuż sesswali seħħ f’istituzzjoni reliġjuża.

 

Għal min jaħseb li l-Kummissjoni Rjali u/jew il-gvern Awstraljan u/jew il-midja huma mqabbda mal-Knisja Kattolika, tajjeb li wieħed jinnota li minn dawk li qalu li kienu abbużati f’istituzzjoni reliġjuża, 61.4% minnhom ġarrbu dan l-abbuż f’istituzzjoni tal-Knisja Kattolika.  Fi kliem ieħor, sar iktar abbuż f’istituzzjoni Kattolika milli fl-istituzzjonijiet reliġjużi l-oħra kollha magħdudin flimkien.  It-tieni l-iktar affiljazzjoni reliġjuża msemmija kiened dik Anglikana b’14.8%.1

 

Dawn huma figuri ta’ dieqa (nispera) għal kull min bħali jimmarka ‘Kattoliku’ f’xi formola li niltaqgħu magħha meta nkunu mistoqsijin l-affiljazzjoni reliġjuża tagħna.

 

Ir-rapport fih sbatax-il volum, li fil-qosor jittrattaw:

• •fehim fuq l-abbuż sesswali f’kuntest istituzzjonali; 

• •kif istituzzjonijiet jistgħu jsiru postijiet ta’ protezzjoni għat-tfal; 

• •x’tip ta’ sostenn u trattament hemm bżonn għal min isalva minn abbuż; 

• •it-tipi ta’ istituzzjonijiet fejn twettaq l-abbuż sesswali: dawk residenzjali storiċi (qabel l-1990); dawk li jieħdu ħsieb it-tfal barra d-djar; l-iskejjel; gruppi ta’ sport, rikreazzjoni, kultura, kommunità jew delizzju; ambjent ta’ detenzjoni; dawk reliġjużi. 

• •x’jeħtieġ isir wara t-tmiem tal-kummissjoni. 

 

Kull volum għandu r-rikommandazzjonijiet tiegħu, u b’kollox saru 189 rakkomandazzjonijiet.  Minn dawk relevanti speċifikatament għall-Knisja Kattolika, xi wħud li laqtuni kien hemm:

• •li l-qrar isir f’post fil-miftuħ, u biss meta it-tifel jew tifla tkun viżibbli minn adult ieħor, inkella ma jsirx (Rak. 16.48).  Dan għax parti mill-abbuż sar fil-konfessjonarju; 

• •li s-sigriet pontifikali ma jibqax japplika għal każijiet ta’ abbuż sesswali tat-tfal.  Dan ħalli ma jkun hemm l-ebda impediment li każijiet bħal dawn ikunu rrappurtati b’mod mandatorju lill-awtoritajiet ċivili mill-isqfijiet jew superjuri reliġjużi (Rak. 16.10); 

• •li ċ-ċelibat tal-kleru jsir volontarju (Rak. 16.18).  Dan mhux għax iċ-ċelibat kien meqjus kawża diretta tal-abbuż, imma li f’ċerti ċirkostanzi ikkontribwixxa għal abbuż; 

• •li jiġi ċċarat mas-Santa Sede jekk informazzjoni minn tifel jew tifla waqt il-qrar fuq abbuż sesswali hux kopert mis-sigriet tal-qrar, kif ukoll li persuna li tqerr li tkun wettqet abbuż sesswali ma jingħatax/tingħatax l-assoluzzjoni sakemm dan l-att ma jkunx rrappurtat minnha nfusha lill-awtoritajiet ċivili (Rak. 16.26). 

 

Fuq dawn l-aħħar żewġ rakkomandazzjonijiet, bilkemm kienu għaddew 24 siegħa mill-pubblikazzjoni tar-rapport, li l-Arċisqof Hart ta’ Melbourne u l-Arċisqof Fisher ta’ Sydney kienu diġà stqarrew li s-sigriet tal-qrar huwa nvjolabbli u li r-regola taċ-ċelibat m’għandhiex tinbidel.2  Donnhom kienu qed jagħmlu minn kollox biex jikkonfermaw osservazzjoni li għamlet il-Kummissjoni, fejn qalet li ‘jidher li xi kandidati għal pożizzjonijiet ta’ tmexxija ġew magħżula abbażi għall-adeżjoni ma’ aspetti speċifiċi tad-duttrina tal-knisja …. milli l-kapaċità tagħhom ta’ tmexxija’.3

 

Wara kollox, dawn iż-żewġ rakkomandazzjonijiet, u xi oħrajn indirizzati lejn il-Knisja Kattolika, huma deċiżjonijiet għas-Santa Sede, u mhux tal-isqfijiet.  Jien innutajt li l-Papa Franġisku kien ferm iktar kawt fir-reazzjoni tiegħu għar-rapport tal-Kummissjoni, fejn qal biss li r-rapport ‘huwa riżultat ta’ xogħol bir-reqqa tal-Kummissjoni f’dawn is-snin u għandu jkun studjat fil-fond’.4

 

Nagħlaq b’żewġ osservazzjonijiet tal-Kummissjoni:

• •10% ta’ dawk abbużati meta kien tfal kienu l-ħabs waqt ix-xogħol tal-Kummissjoni.  Dan jindika li l-abbuż sesswali tal-minorenni huwa fattur sinjifikanti li jikkontribwixxi għall-inkarċerazzjoni ta’ offensur li beda bħala vittma;5 
• •uħud mill-vittmi (0.7%) taw xhieda lill-Kummissjoni meta kellhom inqas minn 10 snin.  Dan ifisser li l-abbuż tagħhom ukoll sar f’dan l-aħħar 10 snin.6  Diżgrazzjatament, dan l-abbuż insidjuż, f’ambjent ta’ istituzzjonijiet, għadu jsir anke mal-iżgħar fost it-tfal. 

 

 

 

 

 

1Final Information Update; Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse; December 2017; p. 1

2https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/dec/15/royal-commission-final-report-australia-child-abuse, retrieved 2/1/2017

3Final Information Update; Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse; December 2017; p. 70

4http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-16/pope-francis-responds-to-royal-commission-report/9265466, retrieved 2/1/2017

5A Brief Guide to the Final Report; Royal Commission into Institutional Respnoses to Child Sexual Abuse; December 2017; p. 2

6Final Information Update; Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse; December 2017; p. 3

1Final Information Update; Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse; December 2017; p. 1

2https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/dec/15/royal-commission-final-report-australia-child-abuse, retrieved 2/1/2017

3Final Information Update; Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse; December 2017; p. 70

4http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-16/pope-francis-responds-to-royal-commission-report/9265466, retrieved 2/1/2017

5A Brief Guide to the Final Report; Royal Commission into Institutional Respnoses to Child Sexual Abuse; December 2017; p. 2

6Final Information Update; Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse; December 2017; p. 3