CBCP APPROVES PRINCIPLE GUIDELINES ON CLERGY SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

The Bishops of the Philippines in plenary assembly at Tagaytay on July 5, 2003 approved in principle the guidelines on clergy on sexual misconduct. Only a few crucial issues remain as matters for further consultation, especially with experts. The bishops have to be absolutely sure that the guidelines are in accord with legal procedures, both civil and canonical.

Suggestions refining and finalizing various sections of the document will have to be submitted by the middle of August to the drafting group. In the meantime, civil and canon lawyers will examine the CBCP procedures as to their validity and effectiveness. The CBCP Permanent Council will then approve the entire document in September. After its approval by the Bishops, the document will then be submitted to Rome for its comments and suggestions.

The pastoral guidelines have been in preparation for one year. It has undergone several revisions, after widespread consultation s with clergy, religious and lay people. One contentious point was particularly on the proportionality between the kind of sexual misconduct committed and the sanction to be imposed. Opinions coming from the consultations range from “one strike and you are out” no matter what the sexual misconduct is, to following the example of civil law that imposes punishment commensurate with the act committed. The latter opinion says that sexual harassment is certainly very different from the sexual abuse of minors, and therefore the punishment must also be different. Or the difference between a one case offense and a serial offense.

Another critical point is the fact that there are sexual behavior that must indeed be punished but which can also be reasonably healed through intensive rehabilitation using proper psychological and psychiatric counseling and spiritual direction. This is then a matter of blending the punitive and the healing aspects of sanctions and measures imposed. This is like the on-going debates in the civil sphere between retributive and restorative justice.

In every case, the Bishops are ensuring that the human rights of both the cleric and his partner or victim, as the case may be, are duly respected and that the pastoral care, especially for the partner or victim, is adequately provided.

Some notable provisions in the guidelines are the creation in every diocese of a board of experts (such as canon lawyer, a civil lawyer, a clinical psychologist and others), to assist the Bishop in assessing every individual case , the training of counselors and facilitators to provide pastoral care to partners or victims.

The guidelines are related to the following: criminal sexual acts, non-criminal sexual acts, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation ,heterosexual and homosexual misconduct, the cultural dimension which regard to sexuality, the pastoral care of the victim or partner , the healing of the community, the assessment of the accused, the sanctions and pastoral care of the offender, preliminary inquiries, the status of the clerics and religious under investigation, sanctions to be imposed, initial and ongoing formation in accountability in order to prevent sexual misconduct.