It appears the Roman Catholic diocese of London is listening to Rev. Charles Sylvestre's victims.This week, letters were sent to the women abused as children by the disgraced priest announcing the church will adopt some of their ideas in a new, long-awaited sexual abuse policy.
The suggestions came from a meeting of survivors in Chatham last month.
Sylvestre, 84, died in prison last January just three months into his three-year sentence for 47 counts of indecent assault on girls in his parishes over four decades.
The draft policy is still not complete, after the diocese was advised the scope had been limited to child sexual abuse and not all sexual misconduct.
In Rev. John Sharp's letter to the victims, he said there's also a stronger shift towards prevention.
The letter from Sharp, head of the diocese's sexual abuse committee, says two key suggestions from the victims will be adopted:
- A protocol for receiving complaints "that is sensitive to needs of the complainant." The first contact would not be a priest, but a trained person, perhaps a survivor of sexual abuse, who would continue to communicate with the complainant.
- The "Two Deep Rule," requiring a priest to have another adult with him when meeting a child alone in confession or elsewhere.
Sharp says "your feedback has helped us broaden our scope in developing a policy" to prevent sexual misconduct in the church.
Chatham-Kent Crown Attorney Paul Bailey, who prosecuted Sylvestre, said the "two-deep rule" is "unprecedented."
"It's an excellent strategy," he said, used by many child-centred organizations such as minor hockey and the scouting movement.
"I'm really hoping other members of the Canadian Catholic Conference of Bishops will see this and use it as a template for its own actions."
Diocese spokesperson Ron Pickersgill said it's hoped the draft sexual abuse policy and code of conduct will be out by the end of June.
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