Fair Complaint Procedures in the Church

by Letters Editor · January 9, 2016

Frank Bompas, Johannesburg – On an on-going basis many Catholics seem to be having very bad experiences with the actions and attitudes of those in positions of responsibility in the Church.

While the issues of paedophilia seems to have resulted in the setting up of structures to deal with the problems concerned, paedophilia is far from being the only problem in the Church. When serious issues arise people will try to refer them to Church authorities, but the result is often highly unsatisfactory.

The type of complaints that I have encountered include illicit relationships with women, including young girls, firing church employees without notice or proper procedure, misuse of Church funds, and violent outbursts and punitive sanctions against parishioners and members of the public.

Apart from that, other areas of concern are the failure of many priests to exercise any form of pastoral care and responsibility such as giving direction and encouragement to parish sodalities and maintaining good relationships with parishioners by talking to them in a respectful and sensitive manner or visiting them.

Unfortunately, just as in the case of complaints about paedophilia, these are often badly handled. The local bishop might not always reply to complaints, even pass correspondence marked confidential to the priest in question.

The priest concerned might then take retaliatory action by ostracising the complainant and forcing them out of any position they may have in the parish. This serves as a deterrent to anyone making further complaints and the abusive actions that caused the complaint continue unabated causing discord in the parish.

What is necessary is for every diocese to have a standing commission or committee to deal with complaints and to set up procedures so that these are fairly and speedily resolved. The contact details of this commission should be widely publicised, so that people know who to approach.

Apart from that, there should be thorough and credible reviews of the pastoral ministry of every priest by the diocese or the religious congregation or order he belongs to. In addition the parish council should be given the duty to take up any irregularities with the priest and when needed report these to the diocese.

What I am suggesting is no more than what reputable businesses and governments have tried to institute. Surely the Church can at least do as much as secular society? Updated from 2010