Abuse victims say London bishop's letter 'rings hollow'

Two victims of abuse by priests in the London diocese say a letter by Bishop Ronald Fabbro calling for "courageous" reforms falls short of providing any concrete details about substantive, structural changes capable of preventing future abuse. 

On Friday Fabbro released a "letter to the faithful" that points to cases of abuse of children by priests as exposing a  "brokenness in our church."

• Abuse has brought 'brokenness in our Church' London bishop says in letter to congregation

The letter mentions hundreds of abuse cases in Pennsylvania documented in a grand jury report, and says the London diocese has responded by enacting policies to prevent abuse. 

"Our Church has learned from the mistakes that were made in the past," Fabbro writes. "Bishops have acknowledged these tragic mistakes. We have apologized to survivors and asked their forgiveness. We have compensated them for the harm they suffered and provided counselling."

But the line about providing counselling rings hollow for John Swales. 

After being abused as a teenager in the 1970s by Father Barry Glendinning, Swales endured a nearly decade-long court battle against the Catholic church for justice.

"The bishop mentions compensating people for harm, but that frankly has not been my experience," Swales told CBC News. "Virtually every person that I've seen go through the process has gone through a debilitating, gruelling, hurtful process."

Fabbro's letter mentions the grand jury report that accuses hundreds of priests in six of Pennsylvania's eight dioceses of sexually abusing children for decades, with the church hiding deviant priests, often by reassigning them to different parishes or sending them to treatment centres. 

"It was heart-wrenching to listen to their stories of the pain and the sufferings they have endured throughout their entire lives," Fabbro writes.

Fabbro's letter then mentions the London diocese's Safe Environment Policy, enacted in 1989 and updated since then to prevent abuse and protect children.

But one abuse survivor and long-time member of the church in London who spoke to CBC News on condition of anonymity said that policy lacks clear accountability provisions. 

She suggests that a parish with a priest convicted of abuse should be threatened with losing its charitable status, a move she says would severely limit their ability to raise money. 

"They should be hit where it hurts," she said. "The accountability is missing."

She also suggests that clergy members who abuse be made accountable to review and punishment by an external body, not the church itself. Finally, she calls for a clear code of ethics with a list of punishments for abusers. 

"I desire the kind of change that will really make the church safer and more accountable," she said. "This letter is more blah, blah, blah." 

Swales has written his own list of demands for reform and posted them online in a letter to Pope Francis.

Reforms he wants to see include:

• A requirement that non-offending priests be directed to visit every family in their parish that has suffered sexual abuse by priests or clergy, and to listen to their stories and believe them. 

• A rule stating that the church stop forcing victims to file legal cases for compensation. "Ask families and communities what they need to heal, give them everything they ask for," he says. He says the church should be "willing to go bankrupt" to help those who've been hurt. 

• He wants the Catholic Church to publicly acknowledge the part residential schools in Canada played in carrying out abuse against Indigenous people by priests and nuns.