By Nirmala Carvalho
Mumbai, Dec 31, 2021: A priest in Bombay archdiocese has been convicted of abusing a teenage boy in 2015.
A court dealing with POCSO (Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences) cases on December 29 awarded life sentence to Fr Lawrence Johnson.
The priest was arrested in 2016, and the parents later accused Cardinal Oswald Gracias and auxiliary Bishop Dominic Savio Fernandes of not reporting the incident to police.
Charmaine Bocarro, the victim’s lawyer, said it was a “landmark” judgment, “as the victim got justice.”
She said Johnson had “financial might and the pressure from [his] supporters” backing him, causing “innumerable” problems for the victim’s case.
Bocarro worked the case free of charge.
“I have always worked for the poor, women, and marginalized. There are very few who stand up for them,” she said.
Catholics in India hope the case provides a learning curve for the Church in handling clerical abuse.
“By this verdict, the archdiocese can make strong and efficient rules to protect the young kids from sexual harassment and exploitation. If the rules are made to protect kids within church premises and activities, it will have a long-term impact in living a quality life,” said Pascoal Carvalho, a Mumbai-based member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.
Catholic layman Joaquim Reis, a high-ranking lawyer in Mumbai, told Crux, “It is a very sad state of affairs that a Catholic priest has been convicted by Sessions Court of such a serious offence. It is unfortunate that the priest who is otherwise the ‘guardian of the conscience of people’ and is supposed to show high ethical values is involved in such a crime.”
Mumbai-based Sister Arina Gonsalves is a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and has worked as a consulter to the Archdiocese of Bombay in cases of sexual abuse of minors.
“We respect the court of law and justice to the victim and his family. May the verdict bring healing and peace to him and his family,” she told Crux.
Source: https://cruxnow.com/church-in-asia/2021/12/mumbai-priest-convicted-of-sexually-abusing-boy-in-2015
How many more cases of abuse that are proved in the courts will it take for Church leaders to stop sticking their heads in the sand claiming that abuse accusations against clergy are untrue reactions of disgruntled people. We as Church cannot allow the hierarchy to continue protecting the abusers and silencing the victims and their supporters. We need more faithful among the laity, religious and clergy to work for a Church that is more witnessing of Christ rather than a denial of him and his teachings as we tend to be now!
The verdict is a lesson for Cardinal Gracias and the auxiliary bishop who protected the culprit all these days. It is a wake-up call for all the bishops in India to punish their own priests involved in sexual abuses and corruptions before the court punishes.
The author (Nirmala Carvalho) is quoting her husband in the story—Pascoal Carvalho, a Mumbai-based member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.