How to Stop Pedophile Priests

As the world awaits the white smoke, it is time to ask how the next Supreme Leader of the Catholic Church can meet its most urgent challenge: stopping its priests from sexually molesting boys. There have been, on a realistic estimate, more than 100,000 such victims since 1981 when Joseph Ratzinger became head of the Vatican office that declined to defrock pedophiles and instead approved their removal to other parishes and other countries.

These widespread and systematic sexual assaults can collectively be described as a crime against humanity. The church cannot atone just by paying compensation. Unless the new pope installs a policy that minimizes danger to children, he—like Benedict—will become complicit in ongoing but avoidable abuse.

First, and most obviously, there must be zero tolerance for pedophile priests. They must be automatically defrocked as soon as their bishop learns of their crime. There must be no delay, and certainly no appeal to the Vatican—it was there that Ratzinger’s preference for avoiding scandal permitted so many pedophiles to be forgiven, and then to reoffend. There is ample evidence now, from Ireland, America, and Europe, that the Vatican has conspired to thwart prosecutors and protect clerical criminals.

The pope is the source of canon law, which directs that allegations of child molestation be investigated in utter secrecy, by a “trial” loaded in favor of clerics who, if found guilty, are “punished” for the most part by orders for prayer and penitence. This must be changed, by recognition that child molestation is a serious offence that cannot be dealt with in a secret ecclesiastical procedure. Allegations must be reported to the police. The Vatican pretends that it made this change in 2011, when new guidelines were issued reminding bishops to cooperate with law-enforcement authorities, but only when local law requires it (and many countries still do not have laws compelling the reporting of child abuse). These guidelines are not incorporated into canon law: bishops are not told to hand evidence over to the police and priests are not required to inform on brothers whom they know (often through confession) to be molesting children. There is no duty to suspend a suspected priest.

source @ http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/12/geoffrey-robertson-how-to-stop-paedophile-priests.html