by Deanna Cantrell
Sexual abuse leaves lasting scars that stay with the survivor long past the act itself ends.  With early intervention and therapy the odds are better for that child to have a happy and productive life.  In cases where someone such as a priest violates the trust and personal space of a child, the mental and emotional toll can be devastating.  The Catholic Church has long tried to cover up cases of molestation within its priesthood.
According to a new report from, The Sunday Age, The Catholic Church had set aside tens of millions of dollars to compensate sexual abuse victims years before it was prepared to publicly acknowledge the extent of the problem and now has up to $150 million set aside to cover existing and future claims.┬á The church’s insurance company has allocated up to $150 million to cover outstanding and anticipated compensation claims, more than three times the amount believed to have been paid to victims to date.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is an institution located in Melbourne, Australia.  It held its first public forum in September 2013.  Hearings do not focus on individual cases, rather case studies.  A public hearing is set to be held on November 24 at 10:00am AEDT.  It will inquire into the response of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne of child sexual abuse.  See their website for full details as well as viewing information.
Starting in 1969, the Catholic ChurchÔÇÖs insurance company, called Catholic Church Insurance Ltd., set aside a dedicated fund covering the church for alleged incidents.
“CCI’s aim is to assist the church by providing protection in a difficult area and one which is increasingly being excluded by worldwide insurance markets. We intend treating this insurance as a special accommodation line for the church,” CCI’s then underwriting manager wrote to the bishops in 1990.
Under this, CCI was authorized to pay out $1 million in compensation per abuser, up to a total liability of $5 million.  The total was later boosted to a whopping $15 million.
At the 2013 Victorian inquiry into child abuse by religious and other organizations, Bishop Peter Connors ÔÇô former chairman of the Australian Bishops’ Conference special issues committee ÔÇô testified that the church’s policy before the Melbourne Response was “admit nothing” and “never say you are sorry”.┬á “I think that was the difficulty for bishops, because they were taking the wrong advice never to meet with victims and never to admit something had happened,” he testified.
This is similar to the advice a car insurance company might give to their insured after a collision.  It is almost absurd that a comparison can be drawn between the two.  Then again, so is the mere concept of needing an insurance policy to cover sexual misconduct.  The notion that such coverage is needed to cover the cost signifies that there is a far reaching problem.
Recently, Pope Francis spoke on this issue:
┬áÔÇ£If a person has done wrong, is conscious of what he has done and does not say sorry, I ask God to take him into account,ÔÇØ the pope said. ÔÇ£I forgive him, but he does not receive that forgiveness, he is closed to forgiveness.ÔÇØ
Leave it to the Catholic Church, where ÔÇ£sorryÔÇØ absolves any deed, no matter how horrific. However, under this model, the people who actually deserve such apologies will never receive them. Not that an apology is a spectacular act that heals all. ┬áThough validation can do wonders for the healing process. ┬áAbuse thrives on silence; shining a light on the realities of how the Catholic Church deals with these crimes in secret is a step in the right direction.
View the entire report by the Sunday Age for even more details.