Suicide, Abuse, and the Catholic Church

One of my earliest memories from primary school religion lessons is that suicide is a grievous sin, one of the worst of all. If that is so, how serious is it to be responsible for another person's suicide? And how serious is it if that person is a representative of the Catholic Church, or indirectly, the whole impersonal structure of the Church itself?

The Church has by now become accustomed to being sued by survivors of clerical abuse, of boys, girls, and adults alike. It is also now accustomed to paying out large sums, as the result of court judgements, out-of court settlements, or (in some cases) plain hush money, all for abuse.

In Pennsylvania, it is now facing a monetary claim on different grounds, still arising from a case of alleged abuse. Michael Unglo was an abuse victim in the diocese of Pittsburgh, where he was molested for several years by Fr Richard Dorsch, who was later defrocked and imprisoned.  After Unglo attempted suicide in 2008, Bishop Zubik promised him that the church would "right the wrong"  that had been done to him, and began paying for psychiatric treatment.  Earlier this year, he was told that a payment of $75 000 would be his last one. Two months later, he killed himself. (See "Suicide's family sues Catholic church", at UPI.com )

Now the family are suing the diocese for wrongful death, arguing that the diocese should have continued paying for his treatment.

Fewer Abuse Claims in England & Wales

While there remain numerous serious problems with the church's handling of sexual abuse (of children and of adults), it is important to recognize that the scale of the problem has at least been declining in recent years. The diocesan administrator in Cardiff, Monsignor Robert Rearodon, says this is a sign of "how strongly the church was tackling the problem". 

This is illustrated, for example, in this report from the UK:

Fall in Catholic child abuse claims

CHILD abuse allegations in the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales fell in 2009, according to a new report.

And a senior Catholic priest in Wales said the figures, released in the annual report of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission, showed the church was dealing robustly with issues of safeguarding young people.

The Catholic church received 41 allegations of abuse relating to 43 alleged abusers and 52 victims in 2009.

The claims made in 2009 have so far resulted in one police caution or warning and one jail sentence.

There are investigations under way in 17 cases, while no action has been taken by the authorities in relation to 24 allegations.

Monsignor Robert Reardon, the administrator of the Archdiocese of Cardiff, said the report was evidence of how strongly the church was tackling allegations of child abuse, though he admitted there was still work to be done.

Full report at Wales Online