The diversity of the Catholic Church in the United States requires that it develop a culturally sensitive approach to preventing abuse, a safeguarding expert said.
Although the U.S. church, like the church in Europe, has structures in place to promote safeguarding to a higher degree than churches with less resources, « there are cultural aspects that need to be taken into account, » Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, president of the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Institute of Anthropology: Interdisciplinary Studies on Human Dignity and Care, said.
« The more diverse a society is and a local church is, the more it needs to respect the different cultures, languages, habits, mentalities that are represented, » he told Catholic News Service June 18 on the sidelines of an international safeguarding conference hosted by the institute.
Given the diversity within the U.S. church, it must « be aware that there are different types of (ways) how you establish relationships, how you interact and express yourself, in different parts of the world, » Zollner said.
According to a 2023 report by the Pew Research Center, 57% of U.S. Catholics are white, non-Hispanic, while 33% are Hispanic, 4% are Asian, 2% are Black and 3% are of another race.
Racial, ethnic and cultural diversity in U.S. churches presents the challenge of communicating the sensitivity around safeguarding in ways that cut through cultural differences, he said.
« When we talk with people from a different background do we really talk the same language in regard to sexuality, to harassment? How do we approach people, how do you relate to people, talk about difficult issues? » Zollner asked.
He said the church in the United States must make significant effort « so that these ethnicities are more likely to come on board, and so that people don’t get the impression of a sort of ‘neo-colonialism’ by just applying the same type of structure, language, or educational programs to people who have a different outlook. »
« Law and guidelines are important, » he said, « but law does not change the heart. It does not automatically change mentality. »
Zollner stressed the need for the church « to learn to tell the intention of guidelines in a narrative way. And the narration needs to come in symbols, in language, that can be understood on the ground. «
In many cultures, for example, sexuality is « a complete taboo in the public debate, » and, as a result, « people don’t have the courage to talk about this and are not educated in family, schools, or religions to do so. »
Still, he maintained that the Catholic Church is still a leader in safeguarding, since « no religion and no denomination have made the same strides in safeguarding activity, which means setting up guidelines for all types of institutions, (and) the training of personnel, full-time or volunteers. »
But still, the church’s implementation of safeguarding practices are « far from perfect and far from consistent, » Zollner said.
« In many places, we don’t implement our own law, » for example in addressing cover up of abuse, he said, which is « an institutional failure of great importance because it undermines the credibility of the Gospel message. »
Additionally, he noted that the church often fails to collaborate on safeguarding with other religions, denominations, the state and non-government organizations.
While Zollner praised the extensive work already done by the Catholic Church to prevent abuse, « we are the biggest player in this field, so we have a special obligation. »