Tagle: Clergy sex abuse in Asia a ‘growing concern’

THERE is a “growing concern” in the Church in Asia about the sexual abuse scandals that have plagued Catholic communities in the West in recent years, even if reported cases “are not so numerous yet as in other parts of the world,” said Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila yesterday.

“There is an awareness that this is not only a problem of the West, but something that is happening in the world,” he said on the sidelines of a Vatican-sponsored conference organized in Rome by the Jesuit-run Gregorian University.

The conference was scheduled to help bishops and religious superiors to draft guidelines for the handling and prevention of the sexual abuse of minors.

Archbishop Tagle was due to address the conference later yesterday on the topic of sexual misconduct in Asia.

His report will be “factual,” sharing “some of our experience in Asia, in particular my experience in the Philippines, of how the Church has been addressing this whole question,” he said.

He admitted that cultural differences between Asia and the West tend to blur the boundaries between abuse and affection.

Archbishop Tagle said a growing awareness of the risk of sexual abuse has resulted in such “cultural expressions” peculiar to Asia being “reviewed by the Church and by some scientists and psychologists” because “there is the risk that some behaviors that are accepted in a culture could lead to possible abuse.”

Report from ucanews.com, story and interview on National Catholic Reporter