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11 theromancatholicchurch(RCC)ledthewayamonginstitutionalreligionsin addressing child sexual abuse complaints.1 Policies for responding to complaints emerged in some dioceses in 1987. Further, the RCC is the only religious institution examined in this book to create policies exclusively addressing complaints of child sexual abuse; other institutions have developed policies that respond to complaints of sexual abuse against both children and adults. In 1992 a central policy document, entitled From Pain to Hope, was created and recommended for use in the Church’s dioceses and archdioceses. Many have chosen to follow the guidelines in this document while others have developed their own or do not indicate what, if any, policy they choose to follow. In the course of the research for this book, all seventy-one dioceses were contacted via email and asked if they had a policy and, if so, for any information about that policy. Of the seventy-one, seventeen responded. However, although it is not clear if all dioceses have implemented a policy, during the Cornwall Inquiry, Father Thomas Doyle, expert in canon law and child sexual abuse, testified that he did not know of any diocese in Canada that did not have a binding diocesan protocol and, in “many cases, these protocols were based on the provisions in the CCCB document [e.g., From Pain to Hope].”2 Church Structure and Description of the Context The Roman Catholic Church in Canada is the largest religious institution in the country; 2001 census data from Statistics Canada indicates that Roman Catholics are “the largest religious group, drawing the faith of just under 12.8 million people, or 43% of the population.”3 Geographically, the RCC is divided into ecclesiastical provinces, with each archdiocese headed by an archbishop, and each diocese headed by a bishop. In each ecclesiastical province there is one diocese that is recognized as the first diocese, or the archdiocese. The bishop of that diocese is thus an archbishop. The archbishop has no structural power over other bishops within the same ecclesiastical province; rather, the role is considered honorific. Each diocese and Chapter 2 The Roman Catholic Church in Canada 12 Chapter 2 archdiocese consists of a number of deaneries that are comprised of parishes, which are served by priests. The Catholic Church in Canada consists of seventy-one dioceses, including sixty-two in the Latin rite, eight eparchies (of the eastern rite), and one military ordinariate.4 A diocese and an eparchy are areas of jurisdiction in the Roman Catholic Church. The RCC, as with other religious institutions, includes those who have been baptized into the faith, including lay members, adherents, volunteers, leaders, and specially mandated leaders (religious, e.g., those who are in a specific order in the Catholic community), and priests.At its head is the successor of St. Peter, the pope (also known as the pontiff or the bishop of Rome), who is elected by the College of Cardinals. The other role of the College of Cardinals is to advise the pope.5 The pontiff selects cardinals.6 The pope exercises full authority over the Church.7 He is assisted by the Roman Curia, whose members perform a variety of roles in governance in the name of the pontiff.8 The Church is divided into nine administrative departments called congregations, each of which is headed by a cardinal. For example, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith exists within the Curia to promote Church doctrine and morality. Since 2001 it is this congregation to which all cases of alleged sexual abuse involving priests must be sent.9 The Church is administered out of the autonomous state of Vatican City by the Roman Curia, which acts under the Vatican’s Secretary of State.10 Also leading the Church is the Episcopal College,of which the pope is head.The Episcopal College consists of the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church. They are considered the successors of the Apostles. They have authority over the Church only when they act in union with the pope.11 Individually, (arch)bishops exercise authority over their particular (arch)dioceses.12 The role of the laity in the Church significantly changed in the twentieth century. The Council of Trent (1546) solidified a hierarchical“pyramidal structure ,” with the laity at the bottom. Vatican II, in the 1960s, challenged this with a new understanding of the Church that put more of an emphasis on the whole “People of God.”13 Notably, lay people were identified as participants in ministry in the Dogmatic...

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