Criminologist questions how church hierarchs missed alleged abuse

Vilnius University criminologist Gintautas Sakalauskas said it was difficult to believe that Church hierarchs knew nothing about alleged sexual offences against children that one priest may have committed over 23 years, LRT reported, citing an interview with ELTA.

Law enforcement authorities have referred cases against two priests accused of sexual offences against children to court. Sakalauskas said the news itself was not surprising, as similar cases had emerged in Lithuania and other countries, but he was surprised by the number of alleged incidents and the length of time involved.

“If the crimes were allegedly committed for so many years, there were so many victims, but nothing came to light, this situation is truly surprising,” Sakalauskas said.

“It is difficult to believe that nobody knew or noticed. It is especially difficult to believe that none of the hierarchs knew. The man was not in just one parish, and priests normally communicate with parishioners and believers. Such things should have been noticed,” he said.

Sakalauskas said one priest was reportedly accused of offences in 34 incidents. He noted that many cases that emerged after the Second World War involved closed institutions, such as monasteries and facilities caring for orphaned children, when there was less public information and people may have placed greater trust in the sacred nature of the Church.

“Fifty years ago, it was generally difficult to understand such cases because they were simply not known about or investigated,” he said. “Today we know much more about this problem and understand that there are people who are sexually attracted to children.”

According to Sakalauskas, sexual offences in the clergy or in Church settings share a common feature with similar crimes committed by other people: they occur in structures where there is an imbalance of power and some people are expected to obey others.

He said prisons and care homes were also examples of such structures and were under close scrutiny in many countries. In the Church, he said, the imbalance was particularly strong because priests work with children and hold spiritual authority.

“The conditions for exploiting a child in the Church are favourable, as they are in any other similar structure,” Sakalauskas said.

He added that the distinctive feature of the Church was the spiritual authority people expected from it. The cases were particularly painful because people who presented themselves as intermediaries between God and humanity were committing deeply harmful acts.

Sakalauskas said that in Germany, millions of people had turned away from the Church and left the institution after cases of priestly paedophilia came to light. He also said the Church sought to protect its authority and preserve its autonomy.