The Archbishop of Montreal is getting serious about child abuse at the hands of Catholic priests. Archbishop Christian Lepine issued a decree forbidding all workers and volunteers, including priests, from being alone with children. From The Guardian:
Catholic priests in Montreal will be banned from being alone with children to provide a “safety net” against allegations of abuse.
You can read the archbishop’s full letter here, but a snippet is below:
Recent events have brought to light the horrific reality of abuse of minors and vulnerable persons by members of the Church. These intolerable situations have shocked and shaken the Universal Church as well as the entire population to whom we wish to proclaim the Good News of Christ. Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis have denounced these situations and issued clear instructions that every diocese is to provide itself with the necessary means to prevent such abuses and to immediately address cases of misconduct.
It is our duty to ensure the well-being and security of all the people to whom we offer pastoral care and to ensure a healthy and safe environment that is free of doubt for all who work within our churches, whether priests or lay people. In Quebec, various organizations have included systematic preventative measures in their operations.
During my episcopate, I am determined to provide our Church with mechanisms for the supervision of paid and volunteer personnel to ensure a healthy and safe environment for everyone. Known as "Responsible Pastoral Ministry," this policy must be implemented progressively in all the parishes and diocesan offices and services. With this goal in mind, I have issued the decree attached to this letter.
It seems like a step in the right direction, but others want to see them do more:
The policy was dismissed as “window dressing” by David Clohessy of the US-based Snap (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests).
“The single most effective step would be to publicly disclose and discipline every cleric who committed or concealed child sex crimes. That immediately protects children,” he said.
“We’ve literally seen hundreds of policies, procedures, protocols and pledges like this that sound good on paper but are virtually never enforced. So we are extremely sceptical.”