LYNNWOOD – With numerous child sexual abuse allegations rocking the Roman Catholic church in recent years, Seattle Archbishop Alex Brunett wants to do something about it.
He has called for creating a Child Sexual Abuse Institute in the Northwest dedicated to preventing child sex abuse and exploring new methods for treating victims, he said Thursday in a presentation to the Rotary Club of Lynnwood.
“Catholic bishops have publicly acknowledged that our mistakes failed to protect victims from sexual abuse by clergy in the past,” Brunett said. “These mistakes were compounded by a failure in many cases to understand this crime and ignorance about the pain of the victims.
“It is time to make permanent our commitment to fight child sexual abuse wherever it exists.”
Brunett said the institute would study child sex abuse causes, promote guidelines to protect children and fund research in new methods for treating adults who experienced abuse as children.
Child sex abuse “can affect personality formation and have long-term mental health consequences,” he said. We are obliged “to take further steps to combat the crime of child sexual abuse” and “find new methods for healing victims.”
Brunett is asking service clubs in the Northwest including the Rotary to provide financial support for the institute.
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