I have mixed feeling about the national registry. I think we probably should have done it.
But what are the chances a church that didn't prosecute is going to report an individual to the registry? It seems to me that placing a person on the registry without first filing legal charges, opens a church to lawsuits. The churches need to prosecute.
A registry could collect other issues such as admissions of homosexuality or extramarital affairs. Our local Baptist church has dealt with both in recent years. An adult youth leader resigned because of an extra-marital fling that occurred on a youth trip no less. Fortunately it wasn't with one of our youths. And a church administrator resigned and admitted he was a homosexual, but not before causing a lot of discord in the church. Which really the church should have recognized and dealt with earlier. But in these matters you have to walk a careful legal line.
I wonder if a registry would prevent churches from doing the justice system search? I wonder how many churches do a justice system search anyway? I bet few do. So a registry might get used more.
Under the zero tolerance policy adopted by the Catholic Church in the US, ANYONE who comes in contact with children - be it at a school, in church, afterschool program, camp, etc. - must be undergo a background check that includes fingerprinting. I am in a small parish with a few children in our rel ed program. It is already a challenge to get volunteers to teach, even more so when it entails both a background check and 2 day video seminar.
What frustrates Catholics more than anything else, is the constant attack on our Church. George Weigel wrote an excellent Opinion piece for The Statesman. In it, he notes:
In the United States alone, there are reportedly tens of millions of victims of childhood sexual abuse. In the years between 1991 and 2000, according to Virginia Commonwealth University researcher Charol Shakeshaft, 290,000 students were sexually abused in American public schools. Worse yet, studies indicate that 40 percent to 60 percent of sexual abuse takes place within families — often at the hands of second husbands or live-in boyfriends.
If the media is sincerely aghast at childhood sex abuse, then they certainly have their work cut out for them. I'm not holding my breath, though.