ECA’s 21 Points of Action for Pope Francis

 

21 Points of Action for Pope Francis

Presented by Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) and BishopAccountability.org

February 25, 2019

ACCOUNTABILITY

1. Immediately enact into universal canon law: Any cleric who has been found guilty of even a single act of child sexual abuse, no matter when the act occurred, will immediately be removed from ministry and permanently removed from the priesthood.
2. Immediately enact into universal canon law: Any bishop or religious superior who has covered up or facilitated the sexual abuse of children will immediately be removed from his position of authority and permanently removed from the priesthood.
3. Prohibit the destruction of abuse-related files, and immediately turn these files over to civil authorities.
4. Create a canon law that criminalizes abuse of “vulnerable adults,” including seminarians and nuns who are sexually assaulted by clergy.
5. Rescind Pope Francis’ 2016 motu proprio, Come una madre amorevole, as it would result in ‘soft landings’ for culpable church officials.
6. Remove the Holy See’s sovereign immunity in regards to clergy sex abuse cases received by papal nuncio and all embassy staff.
7. Enact strong whistleblower protections. Prohibit any retaliation against church personnel who inform church or civil authorities of alleged sexual abuse.

 

RESPONSIBILITY

8. Require clergy and church personnel to notify civil authorities of all known and suspected child sexual abuse allegations.
9. Immediately stop lobbying against reforms of statutes of limitations and other laws that would give victims access to civil and criminal courts.
10. Require all church officials to publicly support elimination of all criminal and civil statutes of limitation on child sex crimes.
11. Require every bishops’ conference and religious order to make reparations to victims.
12. Require every bishops’ conference and religious order to pay for victims’ unlimited therapy and, as needed, in-patient care.
13. Prohibit church officials from blaming victims’ parents for their children’s abuse by clergy.
14. Comply with the 2014 recommendations of the U.N. Committee for the Rights of the Child. See the CRC’s Concluding observations on the second periodic report of the Holy See, sections 43 and 44, issued February 2014.

TRANSPARENCY

15. Publish a global registry, accompanied by full files, of priests, religious brothers and religious sisters who have committed sex crimes against children and vulnerable adults. Disclosure must include both living and deceased individuals.
16. Publish a global registry, accompanied by full files, of all bishops, religious superiors, papal nuncio, and Curia members who are perpetrators of sexual abuse. Disclosure must include both living and deceased individuals.
17. Publish a global registry, accompanied by full files, of all bishops and religious superiors who have covered up or facilitated sex crimes against children and vulnerable adults. Disclosure must include both living and deceased individuals.
18. Release the current whereabouts of guilty clergy and describe how they’re being monitored.
19. Remove the pontifical secret in regards to all cases of child sex abuse by clergy. As Archbishop Scicluna said yesterday, the secret is “counterproductive.”
20. Pope Francis must be transparent about his own complicity. He must release to Argentine civil authorities and the public all documents concerning his role in the following cases: convicted child molester Fr. Julio César Grassi; Fr. Nicola Corradi, S.M.,abuser of deaf children in Italy and Argentina; and Bishop Gustavo Óscar Zanchetta, accused of sexually abusing seminarians and of possessing child abuse images.
21. End plausible deniability by bishops and the Pope: Create reliable internal channels for reporting of child sex abuse allegations, parallel with reporting to civil authorities.

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

Anne Barrett Doyle, Co-Director, BishopAccountability.org
Email: barrett.doyle@comcast.net
Tel:  +1781-439-5208 (mobile and WhatsApp)

Peter Isely (US Spokesperson/ECA Founding Member)
Email:peterisely@gmail.com
Tel: +1414-429-7259 (English)

Dr. Denise Buchanan (ECA Founding/Board Member)
Email: denise@ecaglobal.org
Tel: +1310-980-2770 (English)

Tim Law (President ECA Founding/Board Member)
Email: timalaw@aol.com
Tel: +1206.412.0165 (English)