Yesterday we published a call by retired NYC lawyer, Jerry Slevin for a National Commission in the United States into Clerical Child Abuse. Melbourne lawyer, Angela Sdrinis, argues in today's opinion piece that there needs to be an International Commission sponsored by the United Nations, particularly in view of the threat of the problem being "exported" to Developing Nations that do not yet have the more sophisticated law enforcement and investigation agencies that we now have in Western nations.

What has been driving the push for Church accountability?

The Archbishop of Sydney has asserted that the attacks on the Catholic Church have been driven by anti-Catholic bigotry. The truth is however that the push to expose the handling of child sex abuse within the Catholic Church has been driven by the sense of betrayal of those who have suffered sexual abuse within the church and the realization that perpetrators were shielded at the expense of victims.

Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard meets with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during the 67th United Nations General Assembly meeting at the United Nations in New York City on September 26, 2012. Her lobbying efforts at this visit to the United Nations Headquarters eventually led to Australia being given a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. See the ABC news story at: www.abc.net.au/news.

Evidence before the Victorian Inquiry into the Handling of Sexual Abuse Allegations by Religious and non-Government Organizations reveals that the reported incidence of child sex abuse within the Catholic Church is six times that of all other churches combined.

Evidence collected by lawyers, victims support groups and information in the public arena also reveals that the Catholic Church, more than any other religious organization, has at times dealt with the problem of child sex abuse by transferring alleged abusers to other parishes both interstate and overseas.

We also know that the problem of child sex abuse within the Catholic Church is an international problem. Inquiries into child abuse in Catholic Institutions have been established in the Republic Of Ireland and in Northern Ireland. The prevalence of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church has been such that Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and other developed countries have established redress funds to compensate victims of Catholic clerical abuse. We know of no other religious institution throughout the world with such high levels of reported child sex abuse.

Exporting the problem to Third World countries...

Evidence before the Victorian Inquiry has included allegations that some Catholic clergy who have been accused of child sex abuse have been transferred overseas, sometimes to third world countries. There is therefore a real risk that in the coming decades we will see similar allegations of systemic Catholic child sex abuse emerging in those countries. Even more concerning however is that the prevalence of the abuse has the potential to be significantly greater in developing countries than what we have seen in Australia. Clearly the usual checks and balances of developed nations such as a strong police force and justice system have been woefully inadequate in confronting the power and influence of the Catholic Church.

In particular in third world countries where the Catholic Church is dominant and where the police and justice systems are much less advanced than in Western countries there is a substantial risk that the influence of paedophile priests will be completely unchecked and there is the potential for even greater levels of systemic abuse of children.

A call for an International Commission into Clerical Child Abuse...

Australia has just won a place on the United Nations Security Council. The Australian Federal Government should use its position to call on the United Nations to establish an International Commission of Inquiry into the handling of sexual abuse allegations by the Catholic Church. In particular, this inquiry should establish the movements across borders of alleged paedophile priests and ensure that all allegations against them are properly investigated and that the alleged offenders are prosecuted in which ever country they may be.

Having said that, the Catholic Church is the only religious organization whose headquarters, the Vatican, has observer status at the UN and whose leader, the Pope, calls himself a head of state and claims diplomatic immunity when attempts are made to join him in court proceedings or to compel him to give evidence in cases involving allegations of child sex abuse. Whilst the Vatican cannot vote in the General Assembly, the Vatican can participate in UN debates. It is well known that the Vatican has used its influence at the UN to oppose UN campaigns for birth control and in relation to the spread of HIV. The Catholic Church is the only world religion which has any representation at the UN and no doubt would vigorously resist any attempt to have the UN pursue internationally the issue of child sex abuse within the Catholic Church.

Angela Sdrinis. Submitted to Catholica 18 Dec 2012

Previous commentary by Angela Sdrinis on Catholica:
www.catholica.com.au/gc2/occ/017_occ_120708.php

[Index of Occasional and Miscellaneous Commentaries]