By Deborah Gyapong, Canadian Catholic News
OTTAWA (CCN)—Canada’s Catholic bishops and religious men and women have condemned the clerical abuse of women religious in a joint statement April 25.
The statement coincided with the airing April 25 and 26 of a two-part documentary co-produced by Dream Way Productions and ARTE France on the sexual abuse of nuns and religious sisters by priests on the French-language channel RDI. The documentary first aired in France on March 5.
The statement acknowledged the documentary broadcast as part of RDI’s Les Grand Reportages series makes allegations of sexual and financial abuse, abuse of power and violations of consciences by clergy against women religious.
“This is a worldwide tragedy acknowledged by Pope Francis and the International Union of Women Superiors General,” the statement said. “This report, like other media reports, highlights the particular vulnerability of young religious women in the Western world, but most importantly the global south.”
“The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and the Canadian Religious Conference (CRC) unreservedly condemn these wrongdoings and insist that the perpetrators must be investigated and judged by appropriate civil and ecclesiastical authorities,” said the statement.
The documentary told the stories of several women religious, some from France who were seduced by their priest spiritual director, others by a priest associated with a L’Arche community there. A woman religious from Montreal named Lucie said she was regularly abused by a priest, but told to “turn the page” and “forget about it.”
The documentary covered abuse of priests in the Community of St. Jean that had been exposed in 2013.
“According to the report, some dioceses and institutions of consecrated life were slow to react and even covered up facts and allegations,” the CCCB-CRC statement said. “These painful truths can only encourage us to do everything in our power to ensure that such crimes and sins will not happen again.”
“As Bishops and as men and women Superiors Major, our first concern goes to the victims,” the letter said, along with a promise to “listen respectfully and answer with compassion” any complaints of suffering.
The statement notes both the CCCB and CRC and committed to implement the protocols found in the latest sexual abuse document produced by the Canadian Bishops in 2018 entitled Protecting Minors from Sexual Abuse: A Call to the Catholic Faithful in Canada for Healing, Reconciliation, and Transformation.
While the document is aimed at the protection of minors, it does include vulnerable adults, though traditionally women religious and seminarians 18 and over have not been included in the definition.
However, the CCCB General Secretariat and its media coordination office told CCN “the principles contained within the document—notably listening to those who bring forward allegations as well as learning from victims—would apply to other cases of abuse and sexual misconduct by clergy, consecrated persons and lay personnel.”
“Likewise, the basic principles in terms of reporting allegations of abuse would also be the same: individuals wishing to file a complaint of sexual abuse against an officially mandated pastoral agent should contact the diocese/eparchy in which the incident took place or the institute (religious congregation) involved as well as local authorities,” the CCCB General Secretariat said.
“Furthermore, an outcome of the Plenary Assembly of 2018 led to the creation of a permanent Standing Committee to keep this issue and its guidelines up-to-date, to study emerging needs, to identify best practices, and to provide recommendations on the guidelines,” it said. “While still in the planning and appointment stage, the Standing Committee members – inclusive of Bishops, consecrated persons, laity and experts from different fields – will examine, discern and recommend how the guidelines may evolve in the future and possibly go beyond the sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.”