The Vatican is turning to the Internet in its struggle against child
abuse with a new website allowing clergy around the world to share
information on eradicating the problem.
A key figure behind the
initiative is German psychologist priest Hans Zollner from the Vatican's
Gregorian University, who spoke to AFP about the need for fundamental
changes in how the Catholic Church handles abuse cases.
"Bishops
have to give priority to victims," said Zollner, a member of the order
of Jesuits, often seen as intellectuals inside the Church.
"People
working inside dioceses and religious orders should be taught to listen
to them. All complaints have to be taken seriously," he said.
Zollner's
university will host a conference next February at which the new
e-learning centre is expected to be launched, with some 200 experts,
diocesan officials and representatives of congregations attending.
It
will be "a step ... on a long and painful path," Zollner said, adding
the website would bring together the latest research on child abuse and
Church laws, while allowing churches in different countries to have
their say.
The website will be in five languages -- English,
French, German, Italian and Spanish -- and the project is funded to last
three years.
The Church is struggling to deal with rising anger
and a string of lawsuits following thousands of abuse claims in Europe
and the United States.
But many in the Church are concerned that
the cases uncovered so far may only be the tip of the iceberg since
abuses in much of the developing world -- including in Africa and Latin
America -- have so far received little attention.
Pope Benedict
XVI's ever stronger denunciations of abuse are bringing some changes,
however, and national bishops conferences around the world are set to
come up with common guidelines against paedophiles by May 2012.
Zollner
explained the process is slow and complex because of wide variations in
national laws and the need for international coordination.
"The general sensitivity to the problem has clearly increased," he said.
"But
the Church is not a monolithic block. Sensitivities are very different.
A critical point appears to have been reached," he added.
"Many
bishops are now saying: 'We have to act'. There needs to be a more
consistent and coordinated response as wanted by the Holy Father."
The
common agreement in the Church is that those responsible "must receive
their punishment according to Church law and criminal law," he said.
Among
the changes Zollner has been working on, is stricter psychological
tests for would-be priests to identify possible abusers.
The
e-learning centre will make use of research from the child and
adolescent psychiatry department at Ulm university in Germany, he said.
Abuse
victims groups have accused the Vatican of failing to take the problem
of paedophilia seriously early on, of not cooperating with police and
allowing priests and bishops who covered up for abusers to go
unpunished.
"For almost all victims, the most important thing is
to be heard by a representative of the institution whose members have
hurt them," Zollner said.
Victims "should have the chance to
express all their pain, anger, depression and fears to an official
representative of the Church," he added.
"The pope's stance is
there should no longer be priests who are protected and moved along. The
Church must no longer give the impression it is shielding the
perpetrators as it has often been seen as doing in the past," he said.
The Jesuit father added: "It makes the victims suffer a second time."