THE Roman Catholic Church in Austria said on Wednesday it will set up a compensation fund for victims of sexual abuse, following numberous revelations of abuse by priests in religious institutions there. The 'Victim Protection Fund' will provide damages to victims and pay for therapy costs if necessary, 'in a timely, unbureaucratic, humane and measured manner,' Austria's bishops announced after their annual conference in Mariazell, south of Vienna.
The fund will not be financed by the Church at large, but rather 'by the offenders or the responsible institutions,' they said.
The bishops refrained however from calling for offenders to be compulsorily reported in cases of abuse, except where 'further persons could be harmed by the suspect.'
Rather, they called on victims themselves to file charges, and for perpetrators to turn themselves in.
Vienna's archbishop Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn hailed the proposals, which are due to come into force on July 1, as a 'new departure' for the Church, after months of criticism over its handling of the scandals.
'The wall of silence must be torn down,' he added.
Damages will be awarded to victims based only on the recommendations of an independent commission designated by the Church itself, and not the demands of victims' lawyers, Cardinal Schoenborn noted.
Those who did not wish to follow this procedure would have to take legal action, he added.After Ireland and Germany, Austria saw an avalanche of allegations of sexual abuse by clergy members in March.
Most of the cases took place in the 1970s and 1980s but the suspected perpetrators were never prosecuted and, in many cases, were just moved on to other provinces when allegations surfaced.
SIC: ST