In Europe, Priest Abuse Hot Lines are Now Ringing

Jakarta Globe, Melissa Eddy & Veronika Oleksyn, April 13, 2010

An Internet grab of the Vatican’s Web page addressing sexual abuse within the Church.

Vienna. Telephone hot lines in Europe offering help to people claiming abuse by Roman Catholic priests are being deluged with calls as the crisis spreads — with one center reporting complaints jumping from about 10 cases a year to more than a thousand in the past few weeks.

Experts say the record influx of calls reflects an increasing realization among victims that they are not alone and that they will not be scorned for breaking their silence about horrors that in many cases go back decades.

“Until now, many people were afraid they wouldn’t be respected,” said Max Friedrich, a prominent Austrian psychiatrist. “There’s also a certain comfort knowing you’re not the only one to have experienced such abuse.”

In the Netherlands, the Help and Law line was set up in 1995 and generally dealt with roughly 10 reports of abuse per year. Since March it has received some 1,300 new reports, said Pieter Kohnen, spokesman for the Dutch Bishops’ Conference, which runs the line.

As with similar help lines, not every complaint turns into an actual case — meaning the caller is assigned a legal adviser to guide him or her through the process.

Still, Help and Law is now dealing with nearly 50 cases, compared with 10 to 14 for most years.

Spokesman Ben Spekman said the hot line is also attracting people who feel compelled to give their reaction to reports of abuse. Some other callers report abuse that happened to a deceased loved one. In neither case would such calls lead to a formal complaint procedure.

Germany’s bishops conference, which launched its hot line on March 30, reported this week that 2,700 people have called it in its first three days, while an older number in Germany run by a pro-reform group, We Are Church, said calls have risen sharply.

“In the past eight years we received about 300 calls total; in the past four to five weeks alone, we have gotten 100 calls,” said Annegret Laakmann, a spokeswoman for We are Church.

In general, the hot lines offer an initial open ear to victims. Laakmann said that in Germany every complaint is believed without question.

In some cases, the hot lines offer a chance to speak to a psychologist, or help finding one. In cases where legal avenues can be pursued, they counsel victims in how to approach authorities.

Hans Tauscher, who runs the complaint center for the Innsbruck diocese, said he has recently been working eight hours a day taking calls, answering e-mails and meeting with victims. He says it’s tough to generalize on how much time he spends with each person, saying some take up to 45 minutes to describe what they went through. Others just take minutes.

“I go with whatever they want — the conversations are very unstructured,” Tauscher said.

Christiane Sauer, a psychotherapist who heads the hot line in the Linz diocese, said people often tell her how relieved they feel after opening up to her, sometimes after decades of silence.

“They become calmer by talking about what happened,” she said.

Associated Press

Related Articles:

Pope Benedict says Church must 'do penance'

Catholic child abuse scandal extends to Curaçao

Church sex abuse blamed on homosexuality

HRW calls for end to abuse in Senegal Koranic schools