Catholic leaders have announced measures which will address key controversies which have dominated the news in Australia. Firstly, the Vatican has announced that bishops who negligently fail to address child abuse allegations will face dismissal, a step which addresses concerns raised by investigations such as the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Royal Commission).

In a separate move, Catholic Education Melbourne (CEM) has created an anti-bullying program that seeks to act as an alternative to the Safe Schools Coalition. The program addresses respectful relationships and anti-bullying.

Recent announcements from Catholic leadership

The Vatican has announced that bishops who have acted negligently when dealing with cases of sexual abuse will be investigated and possibly dismissed. ABC News reports that Pope Francis has clarified existing disciplinary rules to clearly indicate that senior members of the Catholic Church can lose their job if they fail to adequately respond to child abuse claims. The changes have come in response to criticism that the Church has not done enough to address institutional failings in preventing and responding to child sexual abuse. A spokesperson for the Vatican stated that the change "effectively lowers the standard necessary for a Bishop to be removed from office when there is negligence with regard to cases of sexual abuse".

A week later, CEM announced that it has created a program to protect LGBT students from bullying, in lieu of using the controversial Safe Schools program. Although Catholic schools are exempt from joining the Safe Schools Coalition (which will be compulsory in Victoria by 2018), CEM has created a program designed to address anti-bullying and respectful relationships in a consistent and effective way. The Australian reports that the move has been received positively, with one Catholic school principal expressing hope that the CEM was now moving in a more positive direction.

Pressure to change

The Catholic Church and Catholic schools have come under intense scrutiny due to concerns about child safety and a perception that there is an institutional reluctance to address child abuse claims. The Royal Commission has highlighted historic cases of abuse which has led to new State and Territory legislation introducing child protection measures and increased pressure on schools to demonstrate compliance with child safety provisions. We have previously written about initiatives taken by the Catholic Church in Australia to respond to claims of child sexual abuse. See our article Catholic Church releases guidelines for responding to civil claims for child sexual abuse.

Several Catholic organisations have been investigated by the Royal Commission and preliminary findings suggest that the Catholic Church failed in their obligations towards the children in their care. This is consistent with scandals in other countries such as the USA and Ireland, where there have also been institutional failures to respond adequately when children were abused by priests.

Child safety is increasingly the aim of new laws and regulations, although this can at times be controversial. The Safe Schools Coalition sought to promote child safety, but caused controversy based on anti-bullying content that focused on LGBT students. Given the legal obligations for schools to care for the well-being and safety of students, there is a tension between religious teachings on sexuality and the rights and needs of LGBT students. It was reported in The West Australian this week that this matter was raised at the National Catholic Education Convention in Perth.

Canon law in schools

Religious schools are organised in a range of ways, with varying degrees of involvement from official Church leadership. As these schools are aligned with a particular religion, there is an expectation that religious rules and teachings will be observed by the school. This is recognised in part by Australian law and regulation, which create religious exemptions to anti-discrimination legislation when hiring staff.

Catholic schools can be governed by or responsible to Church leaders and so it is difficult for schools to take a clear stance on issues of church governance or morality without their consent.

How should your schools respond?

The decisions made by the Vatican will have little tangible impact on the day to day operations of schools in Australia. However, it does indicate that the Church leadership is taking steps to address child safety and hold leaders accountable for a failure to prioritise the rights of children. The idea that child safety should be more important that other considerations such as protecting religious institutions or leaders is a key message of the Royal Commission, and schools will now be in line with senior Catholic leadership by affirming the need to hold leaders accountable for negligence.

It remains to be seen whether other Catholic Education Offices will follow the Victorian model and begin to publish clear guidelines on anti-bullying for LGBT students. This will help schools reconcile the religious teachings that are part of their ethos and their responsibilities to their LGBT students.