The Tenerife Neighbourhood Alliance has asked the bishop of the province, Eloy Alberto Santiago, to adopt new measures against potential cases of paedophilia in the Church. Among these, they recommend that priests accused of this crime be tried in the ordinary civil jurisdiction, not by ecclesiastical courts, something the group considers “indispensable”.
At this point, this citizens’ group makes it clear that “the old practice of moving the convicted priest to another parish must be a thing of the past and cannot be repeated”. Neighbourhood spokespersons agree that there must be “zero tolerance against this human indignity”.
The Alliance also proposed to the bishop that, once a priest is reported, and after gathering a forensic psychological report, he should be removed from his parish and from contact with parishioners. And if he is convicted after a civil trial with all guarantees, he should lose his status as a priest.
Another measure advocated by the neighbourhood representatives to the prelate is the need for the Church to financially compensate the moral damage caused to minors.
As a basic principle, the Alliance maintains that “all priests, and the rest of the personnel accompanying them in parish work, such as sacristans, catechists, etc., must have an unblemished record, free of criminal background”.
All preventive measures are few, as paedophilia has no cure and those who commit this crime may reoffend, with the severity that psychiatrically they may not be aware of doing anything wrong by abusing a minor, warns this citizens’ group.
While it is true that 80% of abuse of minors occurs within the family environment, and the remaining 20% in religious, sports, and school settings, “for an institution like the Catholic Church this plague represents an immense social scandal, precisely a religious institution, deeply rooted in society, that preaches the values of love and respect for others, following the teachings of Jesus Christ”.
