Bishop says church serious about getting rid of abusive priests

Published: 2004-05-28

ROME (CNS) -- An international group of English-speaking bishops is serious about ridding the church of sexually abusive priests and is committed to making the Catholic Church a model safe environment for children, said an Australian bishop. Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide was the organizer of a May 24-27 meeting in Rome of 30 bishops, religious superiors and church child protection officers from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Great Britain, Ireland, the United States, Canada and Jamaica. The bishops are committed to acknowledging the problem, making sure "people who do this are stopped, that the laws of the land are fulfilled and that the victims and those associated with them are cared for and looked after," the archbishop told Catholic News Service May 28. "At the same time," Archbishop Wilson said, "it is not enough just to look back at things that have gone wrong, but we must work out a way in which the church can be a light to others by the way that it takes up the issue of child protection." The May gathering was the group's fifth meeting since 1996 when the bishops decided they should get together after sharing by telephone experiences and suggestions for dealing with cases of clerical sex abuse, he said.

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