TORONTO -- While Roman Catholic churches in the United States struggle with the sexual abuse of minors by priests, church officials in Canada are working with guidelines created a decade ago that determine what to do when such cases arise.
The policy was adopted after a series of lawsuits were filed against residential schools for native people, known as aboriginals, by former students who say they were sexually, physically and psychologically abused when they were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to these institutions.
In 1992, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops passed a policy mandating quick action on allegations of sexual abuse against a priest and requiring the case to be reported to a bishop's representative, whether the accusations seem "doubtful or appear to be founded in fact." Similar principles adopted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that year were nonbinding.
The Canadian guidelines call for protecting children and "vulnerable adults," taking allegations of sexual misconduct seriously and requiring priests and religious personnel to report every allegation of sexual misconduct "even if the alleged abuser is a colleague," according to the policy published by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in a book called "From Pain to Hope: Report from the Ad Hoc Committee on Child Sexual Abuse." An accused priest is placed on administrative leave until the investigation is complete.
"Even one act of abuse is too much," said Monsignor Peter Schonenbach, general secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. "No one will say to a priest who has abused that it is fine to continue. If a priest abuses, his whole life changes with that. If a priest has abused and a complaint comes in and the bishop knows about the abuse . . . from that day on, the priest's whole life will be different. He may remain a priest but will never do ministry again."
Although the sexual abuse scandals in the United States have brought unprecedented attention to the issue, some church officials say the problem is worldwide. Scandals have erupted recently in churches in Africa, Europe and Australia.
Across Canada beginning in the early 1800s, about 130 residential schools and dozens of day schools were built for aboriginal students. The schools, which were run by the churches under contract with the government, became known for the degradation and molestation of children.
In 1996, the year the last school closed, a government-appointed commission concluded that thousands of aboriginal students died in horrid conditions at the residential schools and thousands more were physically and sexually abused as a result of attempts by the churches and the government to "elevate the savages," according to the report.
Last year four major churches in Canada -- the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Presbyterian church and the United Church of Canada (a union of Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches) -- issued a blanket apology to native people, asking for forgiveness for decades of abuse.
Since the public apologies, the government and churches have been hit with billions of dollars in lawsuits. Evidence emerged that as early as 1960, church and federal officials knew about the abuse but did nothing about it.
In June, the government created the Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution, which was given the mandate to resolve lawsuits alleging abuse. More than 9,000 suits have been filed against the federal government. Of those filed against the churches, about 70 percent were filed against the Catholic church, 20 percent against the Anglican church and about 10 percent against the Presbyterian and United churches, according to Cindy Clegg, spokeswoman for the schools resolution office.
"Ninety-five percent of the claims involve sexual and physical abuse," Clegg said. The federal government has spent about $33 million (Canadian) to settle about 450 of the cases. "We are out there settling victims with validated claims," Clegg said. The government has agreed to pay 70 percent of the financial settlements to victims. Churches are responsible for the remaining 30 percent, a sum many say they cannot afford.
Archdeacon Jim Boyles, general secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada, said that in December the Cariboo diocese in central British Columbia closed its offices, ceasing operations, because it could no longer meet the cost of litigation. Boyles said 11 other dioceses could face bankruptcy.
"There is both anxiety and hope among church members," Boyles said. "At the same time, in the face of lawsuits, we have committed ourselves to an ambitious program of healing and reconciliation with aboriginal people."
The United Church of Canada, which has about 750,000 members, has settled about 60 of the 600 abuse claims filed against the church, spokesman Brian Thorpe said.
"There are a significant number involving sexual abuse, not all are related to sex abuse," he said. "There are also claims of cultural loss and inadequate education," which resulted from some students being forced to attend classes half-days and to work on farms the rest of the time.
Schonenbach said that one order of Catholic oblates, who were early missionaries in Western Canada and ran schools for the government, is facing bankruptcy because of "horrendous legal bills." The sum has not been disclosed.
"If they go bankrupt, they will go bankrupt on their own," Schonenbach said.
The Catholic church as a body is not financially obligated to help them. Schonenbach said that the church here looks at the issues of abuse from a theological and a civil point of view. "A lot of these cases are extremely sad," he said. "There are people who in many cases are very good pastors but let their guard down at certain points. Sometimes, we read stories and they make them out as they are people who are priests only for the reason of abusing. But in most cases, they are good priests who have a weakness they can often keep under control but sometimes make stupid decisions and indulge in things they shouldn't indulge in."
In Canada, Catholic priests accused of abuse are often sent to psychological treatment centers for counseling. They remain priests, even if they are sent to prison. After a convicted priest completes his sentence, he may be given an assignment that "would avoid bringing the priest into contact with potential victims," the policy says.
"That is the same as if you have a recovering alcoholic, you wouldn't offer him the bartender's job," Schonenbach said. Still, he said, the church always has a responsibility for a priest. "It doesn't help society if the church kicks the priest out and says, 'Fish upon your own.' This is one way the church can keep an eye on these people."
As the church finds its way of dealing with clergy and abuse, hundreds of aboriginal communities are reeling from what some call a legacy of generations of abuse in residential schools.
"It destroyed the link between parent and children," said Al Gabriel, director of communications for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Ottawa that distributes money to communities, groups and individuals trying to cope with abuse suffered at residential schools.
There are stories of young children sent thousands of miles from their families.
"One man told me of a case where he and his younger sister went to the same residential school for nine years," Gabriel said. "For nine years he was not allowed to speak to his sister."
Children were intentionally isolated and abused, Gabriel said. "One person told me the residential school she attended was in her community but she was not allowed to go home," Gabriel said. "She had to stay there, and at the end of the day, she would go to the third floor and look out the window. She could see her house from there. But she couldn't go home."