I can’t speak with authority about conditions two centuries ago, but in more recent times it’s hard to see the Church as an effective safeguard against child abuse. The widespread revelations that emerged in the 1980s and beyond made clear that serious harm had occurred, and the institutional response often compounded the problem. Rather than confronting the abuse directly, Church leadership frequently denied allegations or reassigned offending priests, which allowed the misconduct to continue out of public view. Whatever the situation may have been in earlier eras, today I wouldn’t consider the Church a reliable refuge in this regard.
This is from 2018.
https://nos.nl/op3/artikel/2246515-waarom-seksueel-misbruik-bijna-altijd-in-het-biechthokje-blijft
Why sexual abuse almost always stays in the confessional
Within a few months, multiple sexual abuse scandals within the Catholic Church have come to light. For instance, it emerged this week how 300 priests were able to abuse over a thousand American children for years. Clergy knew about it, but no one said anything.
This is partly due to the sacrament of confession: everything discussed or happening during confession must remain between the penitent and the priest. Even if abuse takes place there.
The Vatican established this in a secret document, the crimen sollicitationis, in 1962.
In the crimen sollicitationis, sexual abuse is described as an extremely pernicious sin. But if it happens, it must be resolved within the church. The church has its own legal code and legal system for this purpose.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a high court of the church, then determines what punishment a priest receives for the abuse. The church judges sexual violence very differently than a secular court does. A priest can receive forgiveness by praying or by showing lifelong repentance to God.
Priests, for example, have sex or have a partner in secret.
Vatican expert Stijn Fens
Every cleric involved in this process must remain silent forever. A cleric may not report a colleague to the police if that colleague has abused someone. If the cleric does so, *he* is expelled from the church, *not* the person being accused. If you violate this rule, only the Pope can forgive you.
Confession remains sacred
The sanctity of confession will not change anytime soon, thinks Vatican expert Stijn Fens. "Politicians in Australia (where it recently became known that an archbishop concealed that a priest had committed abuse) also said: let the church lift that secrecy of confession when it concerns grave sins. But the church is not going to do that."
Furthermore, secrecy is ingrained in the culture, and you don't change that just like that. Church historian Peter Nissen says that a large percentage of all priests do not adhere to celibacy. "Priests, for example, have sex or have a partner in secret. When they see that their colleagues are committing abuse, they cannot say anything about it, because they themselves are vulnerable to blackmail."
At the same time, Fens observes that there is more transparency within the church. Most cases coming to light now date back years.
