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▼ Uncovering Sexual Abuse By Priests Slow In Japan
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TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Although cases of sexual abuse against children by Catholic Church priests have been exposed across the globe, work to shed light on such wrongdoing has yet to make progress in Japan, with the domestic authorities being reluctant to share information with third parties.
In June 2019, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan started a nationwide investigation into such cases. Many, however, have criticized the conference’s practice of not letting any third parties join its survey. It is unclear whether the survey will successfully bring the real situation to light.
“The conference is reluctant to face the issue of sexual abuse,” said Katsumi Takenaka, 63, the only person in Japan claiming he suffered sexual abuse and disclosed his name.
When Takenaka was in his early teens and living in an orphanage in Tokyo, a German priest called him to come and see him on a daily basis and touched the lower half of his body. The priest has since passed away.
At that time, Takenaka did not recognize the priest’s actions as sexual abuse. “Growing up without knowing love from parents, I even felt warmth [from the priest’s actions],” he said.
Takenaka had forgotten the shocking incident for a long time, but had a flashback about the abuse at the age of 34, in 1991, when he was bathing his 1-year-old child.
Since then, he has suffered aftereffects, including suddenly shouting and thinking about killing himself.
“Keeping silent is unforgivable, leading to the protection of abusers,” Takenaka said.
In 2018, after his retirement from work, Takenaka publicly announced his experience of being abused, and disclosed his name.
Claiming that “priests, who are supposed to preach the way of God, threw a child into the hell,” Takenaka has called on the conference and other entities to launch an investigation into cases of sexual abuse against children.
The conference looked into cases of clergy sexual abuse in 2002 and 2012, but it failed to take measures to prevent reoccurrences, such as sharing information about priests who were found to have committed such acts among senior officials at churches, according to informed sources.
The latest survey, which was conducted from June to October 2019, found a total of 21 child sexual abuse cases across the nation.
Of the priests involved, three were transferred, while one was suspended from work, according to internal documents. The documents also showed that another three were not given any punishments.
The conference is currently conducting an additional survey, but it has yet to set up a third-party investigation group.
The survey was relaunched amid strong worries at the Vatican over sexual abuse by priests.
“I hope that the Catholic Church becomes a religion that stands by victims of sexual violence,” Takenaka said. He has called for a drastic investigation to comprehend the reality and compile measures to prevent reoccurrences.
“We will disclose [the results of the survey] on the website, as soon as they can be reported,” an official of the conference said.
In June 2019, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan started a nationwide investigation into such cases. Many, however, have criticized the conference’s practice of not letting any third parties join its survey. It is unclear whether the survey will successfully bring the real situation to light.
“The conference is reluctant to face the issue of sexual abuse,” said Katsumi Takenaka, 63, the only person in Japan claiming he suffered sexual abuse and disclosed his name.
When Takenaka was in his early teens and living in an orphanage in Tokyo, a German priest called him to come and see him on a daily basis and touched the lower half of his body. The priest has since passed away.
At that time, Takenaka did not recognize the priest’s actions as sexual abuse. “Growing up without knowing love from parents, I even felt warmth [from the priest’s actions],” he said.
Takenaka had forgotten the shocking incident for a long time, but had a flashback about the abuse at the age of 34, in 1991, when he was bathing his 1-year-old child.
Since then, he has suffered aftereffects, including suddenly shouting and thinking about killing himself.
“Keeping silent is unforgivable, leading to the protection of abusers,” Takenaka said.
In 2018, after his retirement from work, Takenaka publicly announced his experience of being abused, and disclosed his name.
Claiming that “priests, who are supposed to preach the way of God, threw a child into the hell,” Takenaka has called on the conference and other entities to launch an investigation into cases of sexual abuse against children.
The conference looked into cases of clergy sexual abuse in 2002 and 2012, but it failed to take measures to prevent reoccurrences, such as sharing information about priests who were found to have committed such acts among senior officials at churches, according to informed sources.
The latest survey, which was conducted from June to October 2019, found a total of 21 child sexual abuse cases across the nation.
Of the priests involved, three were transferred, while one was suspended from work, according to internal documents. The documents also showed that another three were not given any punishments.
The conference is currently conducting an additional survey, but it has yet to set up a third-party investigation group.
The survey was relaunched amid strong worries at the Vatican over sexual abuse by priests.
“I hope that the Catholic Church becomes a religion that stands by victims of sexual violence,” Takenaka said. He has called for a drastic investigation to comprehend the reality and compile measures to prevent reoccurrences.
“We will disclose [the results of the survey] on the website, as soon as they can be reported,” an official of the conference said.
- January 3, 2020
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