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Article Category: 2006 December

WEED THEM OUT - Church ventures into mind field to protect flock from evil

Description: Psychiatrist highlights flaws in church anti-paedophile plan

Article originally prepared on : 15 December 2006

WEED THEM OUT - Church ventures into mind field to protect flock from evil

Renee Viellaris. The Courier - Mail. Brisbane, Qld.:Dec 13, 2006. p. 1

FUTURE Anglican Church clergy will endure tough new psychological profiling to

weed out potential pedophiles.

Under a rigorous initiative to be adopted by the Brisbane diocese, about 200

existing clergy, including Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, also will face regular

reviews.

The measures, which could be introduced by next year, are being delayed as

psychologists, lawyers and key clergy try to agree on the wording of a

questionnaire that addresses intimate personal habits.

Plans for the strategy, called the safe ministry check, come four years after

the diocese was ordered to pay $834,800 to a woman sexually abused as a child

by a boarding master at a Toowoomba school. Revelations emerged at the time

that former Brisbane archbishop Peter Hollingworth ignored allegations of

sexual abuse, forcing his resignation as governor-general in 2003.

Diocese professional standards director Rod McLary said the new procedures

would be among the first in Australia.

"When historical abuse allegation began emerging, the church locally and

nationally began working to improve child protection policies, including

screening procedures," Mr McLary said.

"Screening assessments are done at critical points along the journey to

priesthood.

"The present work being done is the beginning of a whole process that will

eventually cover all clergy and extend to all church workers in the future."

Volunteers and some staff informally hired in the past will now have to meet

selection criteria, sit for a formal interview and submit references for

checking, Mr McLary said.

He said psychologists had tested candidates in the past but the new system

would be more comprehensive and academic.

Under the process, a psychologist would meet a candidate and make

recommendations issued to a small number of people in the diocese.

If the psychologist advises a candidate should not be taken on, the

recommendation would be accepted in the absence of other key information.

"I think we can make an informed decision (but) there's no absolute of

predicting abuse in the future," Mr McLary said.

Professional standards implementation chairman Reverend Alan Moore said only

potential clergy -- priests and deacons -- would undergo

the extensive psychological screening.

Reverend Moore said candidates would be tested when they applied to the

Brisbane College of Theology and before they were ordained.

He said it was yet to be decided how often existing clergy would be reviewed

but it could coincide with the biennial renewal of their blue card, a State

Government requirement for people who work with children.

"We need to ensure they (new candidates) are psychologically sound (and) there

are certain psychological instruments that can help to see if they are suitable

for the job," Mr McLary said.

Other diocese are also likely to adopt similar measures.

see Psychiatrist highlights flaws in church anti-paedophile plan

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