Filipino bishops defend Tagle’s record on abuse

‘He has consistently advocated for a humble and responsive Church that listens to the cries of the wounded and acts decisively to protect the vulnerable.’

Bishops in the Philippines said Cardinal Luis Tagle had “acted decisively” on cases of clerical sex abuse while in the Philippines, in response to criticism of his record.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a rare statement on 3 May after Tagle faced accusations of leadership failures when he was Archbishop of Manila, including from the survivors’ group Bishop Accountability.

Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of the group, claimed Tagle had done nothing to pull the Philippines out of the “dark ages” on abuse.  She said that while Tagle was “a gentleman who weeps when he talks about victims”, when the group investigated his record “what we found dismayed us”.

Barrett Doyle said the bishops of the Philippines had not produced guidelines on how to report abuse, instead writing a document where parents and even children were partly blamed for clerical abuse.  She said the document claimed that “a victimised child is not necessarily the passive partner in an exploitative relation”.

“If Cardinal Tagle cannot even get his brother bishops from his home country to publish guidelines, what on earth can we expect for him to achieve as pope of a global church?” Barrett Doyle asked.

The CBCP said it had issued pastoral guidelines on sexual abuses and misconduct by the clergy in September 2003, when Tagle was the Bishop of Imus, a diocese south of the Phillipine capital which he served from 2001.  In 2011 he became Archbishop of Manila, and served there until 2019 when he was appointed to the Vatican to work in the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

In its statement, the CBCP said Tagle had “actively participated” in developing and implementing the guidelines, both in Imus and later in Manila.

“He has consistently advocated for a humble and responsive Church that listens to the cries of the wounded and acts decisively to protect the vulnerable,” it said.

However, Fr Shay Cullen, the anti-abuse campaigner based in the Philippines, told The Times the local church blocked investigations into abusive priests and encouraged “total silence”.

Tagle was one of several cardinals attending the Conclave condemned for their handling of abuse allegations by Bishop Accountability.

The Vatican’s spokesman Matteo Bruni said cardinals had discussed sexual abuse during congregations ahead of the conclave and considered it a “wound to be kept open”, so the Church would remain aware of it and identify paths for healing.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors said in a statement ahead of the conclave: “We unite our voices with the People of God in a plea for discernment guided by the Holy Spirit – and shaped by the cries of those harmed by abuse within the Church.”

The Commission published a special prayer for the conclave invoking St Joseph, Protector of the Child Jesus.

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