Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna believes the “most terrible” cases of sexual abuse by the clergy have come to light, but the Church can never lower its guard.
“This is a work in progress. It’s not the time for complacency, but time to be aware and proactive. The innocence of children is non-negotiable,” he told The Sunday Times of Malta.
In a telephone interview on his return from Geneva, the Vatican’s former sex crimes prosecutor said the eight-hour grilling before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on Thursday was a tough but positive experience.
During the live webcast hearing, UN child protection experts pushed the Holy See delegates to reveal the extent of the decades-long sexual abuse of minors by priests.
Mgr Scicluna said this meeting gave the Vatican the chance to respond to the committee’s concerns and reaffirm its commitment to protect children throughout the Catholic Church and its institutions.
“It was tough because the issues are so important. We’re talking about the care of children. There is worldwide recognition of the work churches do but when you have some priests who do awful things they create not only headlines but huge concern,” he said.
Mgr Scicluna, who worked at the Vatican for 17 years before returning to Malta, was the Holy See’s chief prosecutor of clerical sexual abuse when Pope Benedict XVI defrocked 384 priests between 2011 and 2012.
There was a spike in 2011 when 260 priests were defrocked or removed from the ministry – more than half of these requested dispensation from priesthood – while in 2012 the number stood at 124 priests.
It’s not about simply saying sorry, it’s also moving on as a family; showing support and compassion
Refusing to take any credit for these figures, Mgr Scicluna insisted it was all teamwork.
He believes the spike in 2011 is due to a backlog of cases and figures for 2013 are now expected to stabilise and go down to about 100.
International media reports said the scene at the UN headquarters on Thursday was remarkable by UN standards, with committee members marvelling at how an institution as powerful as the Holy See could be hauled before a relatively obscure agency to answer uncomfortable questions.
It was also remarkable by Vatican standards as traditionally the Holy See insisted that as an institution it bore little or no responsibility for the problem, blaming the scandals on individual priests or their bishops, over whom the Vatican has no real control.
While insisting on this legal separation, the Vatican responded to questions about cases even where it had no jurisdiction or involvement, and even welcomed recommendations to make children safer.
Asked what pained him the most, Mgr Scicluna yesterday said it was the hurt done to the victims.
“This is the most tragic wound; a wound inflicted on the Church – the Church is not the bishop or the priests but the people of God. These are great wounds inflicted by those who should have been of service to the community,” he said.
The way forward was acknowledging the truth about victims’ wounds while working together towards healing.
“It’s not about simply saying sorry, it’s also moving on as a family; showing support and compassion. The message is that sin and crime are awful things that happen, but goodness is the only thing that will overcome evil.”