Montreal Catholic Archdiocese forbids priests from being alone with children

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MONTREAL - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal is planning to forbid priests from being alone with children and other vulnerable people.
Canon Francois Sarrazin says the policy will be introduced in September in a select number of churches across the city as a pilot project.
Sarrazin said today the new rules don’t only apply to priests but to all diocese employees, volunteers and anyone in what he calls the orbit of the Catholic Church.
He says the directives were created to ensure the safety and integrity of anyone associated with the diocese.
The Roman Catholic Church in Quebec has been rocked by child-abuse scandals as have Catholic dioceses around North America and the world.
Carlo Tarini, a spokesman for an association of victims of priests, says the new rules are too little too late.
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Source: kelownadailycourier.ca/news/national_news/article_6e1d4f7b-a654-50cd-b484-07c3897f4064.html
 
Padres1969 said:
Probably with a third party present, perhaps a second priest.
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I’m not sure that is even permitted. My guess is they will only allow the use of the older confessionals that have a barrier between the priest and the child. Face-to-face confessions will likely be prohibited.
 
larsont7 said:
I’m not sure that is even permitted. My guess is they will only allow the use of the older confessionals that have a barrier between the priest and the child. Face-to-face confessions will likely be prohibited.
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Which should be fine. Frankly when I was a kid in Catholic school I hated being forced to do face to face confession as they did as my school. I didn’t particularly like our priests and definitely didn’t feel comfortable telling them my sins to their face. Hence I’d usually make up some expected kid sin BS and get out of there as quickly as possible.
 
larsont7 said:
I’m not sure that is even permitted. My guess is they will only allow the use of the older confessionals that have a barrier between the priest and the child. Face-to-face confessions will likely be prohibited.
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IMHO, that is a definite plus. No more forced face to face. 🙂
 
JimG said:
There should never have been forced face to face confession. Behind a screen is the default method.
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Wasn’t default when I was in Catholic school in the 80’s and 90’s. Face to face was either the default, or for many confessions the ONLY option offered to us when we went for class confessions (which were the only ones I ever went to as a kid since my parents haven’t gone to confession as long as I can remember).
 
Padres1969 said:
Probably with a third party present, perhaps a second priest.
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I have heard confessions where this has been the protocol. Confessions of children were heard in the open. One provides a chair for the priest, a chair beside (but assuredly not too near) the priest for the child who wishes to go face to face and a prie-dieu with some type of screen for the child who wishes to make his/her confession that way. The parents of each child are stationed some feet away, far enough so that they cannot hear what is said but near enough so that they can clearly see and observe the entire interaction. Adults from the Religious Education programme were also present to act also as witnesses to the proceedings at every instant.

I actually found that to be an excellent way to proceed, not only for the priest’s sake and the child’s safety but also as it seemed overall less stressful for the children. I remember the old days with the confessional and we always heard some child(ren) who became terribly upset or emotional, no matter what we did to prepare them.
 
Isn’t this pretty late to the party? In our area, priests and deacons have been forbidden from being alone with children for years now.
 
I’m surprised this is even news. The Calgary diocese has had a two-adult rule for quite some time now. It’s not just for the safety of the child, but also for the priest. It protects him against false accusations. Further, any of these people, priest and second adult MUST have RCMP clearance for vulnerable sector work, one of the most thorough background checks in Canadian policing (municipal clearance, such as the Calgary Police Service, is no longer accepted).

Confessions are not a problem. If a traditional confessional is not available, it can easily be done in the open, at a discreet distance but within plain view of everyone else.

I personally hate it that these rules had to be implemented, but I also completely understand and support it. Not just the children are vulnerable, but so are the priests. The Church needs to be beyond reproach, and this is a way towards that end.
 
Okay, let’s make it mandatory for public schools to adopt this then.
 
Vincent_de_Paul said:
That should really help vocations.
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They probably think it will help with insurance.

Per the confession thing, a screen with a kneeler out in an openly visible area … with one other adult witness present at a distance could solve that problem.

I’ve been to where the screens are set up near the front of the church, with Father sitting sideways to it (ear to the screen so to speak). Those in line are far enough back not to hear.

It would eliminate face-to-face confessions … but perhaps to everyone’s protection.
 
adamhovey1988 said:
Okay, let’s make it mandatory for public schools to adopt this then.
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That decision rests with the Federal government in Ottawa and with the provincial governments of Canada…not with the advocacy of non-Canadians.
 
Padres1969 said:
I’m sure some of the private organizations you mention already have such rules in place.
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Several hospitals I have volunteered in have a policy where male physicians must always be accompanied by a female nurse or PA when in a room with a female patient. So this policy is already implemented in some hospitals.
 
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