NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      LONDON (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Basil Hume of Westminster this weekend rejected calls by a child abuse group to put glass doors on confessionals to protect children from predatory priests.

      Christian Survivors of Sexual Abuse said in pamphlets distributed throughout Britain, "Children should not be alone in a confessional box with a priest." The group added that an alternative to glass doors would be to have the priest and the child sit in the open in the church where they can be seen, but not heard. The pamphlet, entitled "Safe Church, Safe Children," also outlines what constitutes sexual abuse and advises parents on precautions to take.

      Cardinal Hume sent a letter to the group this week, saying he does not want them to distribute that pamphlet in his diocese and calling their suggestions outrageous. "To suggest that children should never be alone in the confessional is outrageous," he said. "I believe this statement only compounds the media image of priests as pedophiles awaiting their prey."

      The group rejected the cardinal's demand and has pledged to distribute the pamphlet anyway. "It was a highly defensive reaction to a sensible suggestion which has already begun in Australia and Ireland," said the group's leader Margaret Kennedy.