By Arnold Neliba
MAN, JANUARY 9, 2024 (CISA) – “Any lay faithful who knows that a priest is not faithful to his celibacy, has a wife or a child, has committed sexual abuse or economic crimes, must have the courage to denounce him to the bishop, otherwise he commits a sin of complicity before God, the Pope and the Church,” warned Bishop Gaspard Beby Gneba of the Catholic Diocese of Man, Ivory Coast.
Even as he committed to continue with special arrangements to manage transparency in the cases of sexual abuse or economic crimes committed by priests, the bishop has called on the faithful to “have the courage to denounce” priests in his diocese accused of being perpetrators of sexual abuse or economic crime.
“The pope speaks of zero tolerance towards these priests,” he said in an interview with the diocesan radio while stressing a letter to the faithful he shared on January 4, 2024.
The letter asked the lay faithful to provide information relating to the directives of Pope Francis and the Church on “the fight against sexual abuse, economic crimes within the clergy of Man, and the treatment of priests who have wives or children.”
“They must come to see me as soon as possible to present their resignation,” insists the bishop, deploring the behaviour of some who “give the impression that the life of priestly celibacy has been abolished or that continence is optional.”
Preceding the letter, the bishop on December 6, 2023, brought together the priests of his diocese for an “open-hearted” dialogue with a team of facilitators. Following the meeting, the bishop requested an individual and secret meeting with each priest on December 27 and 28.
Victims of sexual abuse and their advocates have long called for measures to make bishops more accountable and to make it easier to report the alleged role of some in cover-ups by the church, negligence or mismanagement.
