VICTIMS OF clerical child sex abuse who have not yet sought help or counselling should make contact with a support group and report the crime to the Garda, the Commission for the Support of Victims of Crime has said.In a statement welcoming the publication of the Dublin diocesan report yesterday, the commission said the impact of the crime was comparable to that experienced by victims of the most serious acts of violence.
“The abuse is all the more appalling given that it was perpetrated by men in positions of great trust and publicly committed to high Christian standards, but sadly betrayed both trust and standards,” it said.
The commission, set up by the Government in 2005 to provide financial support to the victims of crime, said it hoped the report could assist victims in their journey to wholeness and peace.
It said the church should be proactive in providing support for victims of abuse and reform its practices and procedures to ensure proper, prompt and decisive action where suspicions of abuse come to notice.
It also urged people to remember the majority of cases of abuse coming to attention occurred within families.
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