Daily Lessons from Life 04 May 2014 - Vatican panel to develop 'best practices' to curb sex abuse

Incheon-Jeju Ferry Updates - Day 18 Confirmed dead 242 out of 476 onboard with 60 unaccounted for. Some may never be found as 2 bodies were found 2km and 4 km away from the site. Rest in peace to the dead and strength to live on for the families and friends of the dead.

"Vatican panel to develop 'best practices' to curb sex abuse - AFP 04 May 2014

VATICAN CITY: A Vatican panel said Saturday it would develop "best practices" for Catholic parishes to combat paedophile priests, but stopped short of urging mandatory reporting of abuse to police.

"In time, we will propose initiatives to encourage local responsibility around the world and the mutual sharing of 'best practices' for the protection of all minors, including programmes for training, education, formation and responses to abuse," the eight-member panel said in a statement.

"We see ensuring accountability in the Church as especially important, including developing means for effective and transparent protocols and processes," said the panel, which includes prominent Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley and Irish abuse victim and campaigner Marie Collins.

The Vatican has been more proactive in investigating allegations of abuse and listening to victims in recent years and has promised zero tolerance for abusers.

However, it faces a backlog of thousands of cases and has been criticised for failing to do enough to punish predatory priests or the senior clergymen who covered up for them.

Speaking to reporters after a three-day meeting of the panel at the Vatican -- their first since Pope Francis set up the panel in March -- O'Malley said there must be zero tolerance both for "those who perpetrated the offences" and "those who were negligent" in bringing them to justice.

"We want to make sure to have clear protocols... to make people accountable," he said.

In reply to questions, he did not elaborate on how abusive priests and those who protect them could be more effectively handed over to local law enforcement.

This was a key demand contained in a February report by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The committee called on the Church to remove all clergy suspected of raping or molesting children "and refer the matter to the relevant law enforcement authorities for investigation and prosecution purposes".

On Monday and Tuesday, the UN Committee Against Torture will hold hearings on the Vatican, which campaigners see as a fresh chance to examine the Catholic Church's record on child sexual abuse by priests."

It is heartening that the Catholic Church is FINALLY doing or seen to be doing something about this millstone around its neck.

Lessons for me are:

1. it is very hard to win trust when you cannot be open about something that is clearly wrong perpetuated by the people the Church wanted them to trust! i.e. the priests!;

2. that is was tolerated for many decades said much about how the system has been corrupted. This is especially disturbing when it happened within the realm of a religious organization. This is doubly damaging when the religion it belonged to is not like those that worshiped 'free sex' like that cult called:  'Children of the Gods' or something like that! In fact it is a miracle that the Catholic Church still has any following when the parents and grandparents know that their kids and grand-kids may jolly well be under the claws of those devious priests and went unreported by their superior for whatever reasons!;

3. it has gone on for far too long now and it is time to truly address this concern. A very real concern. I like Pope Frances. He is different. I am no Catholics though I was from a Catholics school many moons ago. For the religion to be sustainable, it must be based on some basic fundamental human values that cannot be violated. Protecting the young and innocent and disadvantaged from harm is one of those inviolable values. Besides calling on the higher power of a divine being to guard against such 'devious members of the Church', it is important that these 'poisons' be known as such and be ride of as early as possible after a fair trial - by the Church and by the courts of laws when the Church sits!

Beware. When there is no more believers, there is no need for a religion!