THE Catholic Church authorities need to distinguish between a
paedophile priest and the cleric who committed "a minor indiscretion"
with a teenager 30 or more years ago, it was claimed yesterday.
At
a private meeting in Claremorris, Co Mayo, Tuesday, the new
Association of Catholic Priests challenged the policy of Irish bishops
requiring a priest to automatically step aside from office if a child
abuse complaint or suspicion is lodged against the cleric.
They passed a resolution which throws down the gauntlet to the Irish Conference of Bishops and the Vatican.
Spokesman
Father Tony Flannery, an outspoken Redemptorist priest, said many
priests who attended the regional meeting expressed sympathy with
colleagues who had been excluded from ministry even though their
behaviour since the alleged complaint had been blameless.
The 45
priests spent a lot of the time debating how bishops and religious
superiors handled allegations of child abuse levelled against
colleagues.
Last night Fr Flannery said there was a strong feeling that a
distinction needed to be made between the paedophile and the man who
had behaved inappropriately towards a teenager three decades ago.
He
told the Irish Independent that the sexual advance by a priest on a
child was damaging for the child, but he insisted that a distinction had
to be made between the serial paedophile priest and the immature young
cleric knowing nothing about sexuality who made a mistake.
SIC: II/IE