Social & Culturalabusereportingsafetypriesthood

Abuse, Reporting, and the Church

What does the restored Church teach about abuse, and should it ever be handled only inside the Church?

Bible

The Bible answers

Bible · Matthew 18:6

KJV + NRSVUE

King James Version
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

NRSVUE
If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Our explanation

Whoso shall offend one of these little ones. The millstone is Jesus’ policy.

Bible · Psalm 82:3–4

KJV + NRSVUE

King James Version
Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

NRSVUE
Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Modern Revelation

Doctrine and Covenants 42:79, 84–87
If any persons among you shall steal, they shall be delivered up unto the law of the land. … And if he or she shall rob, he or she shall be delivered up unto the law of the land. … And if he or she shall lie, he or she shall be delivered up unto the law of the land. … And if he or she do any manner of iniquity, he or she shall be delivered up unto the law, even that of God.

Doctrine and Covenants 121:36–37
That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. … When we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves … Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
Our explanation
When we undertake to cover our sins, the Spirit is grieved. Amen to the priesthood of that man.

Faithful answers

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Abuse, civil law, and the Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church’s teaching is not ambiguous. Abuse—sexual, physical, or emotional—is condemned. It should be reported to civil authorities. Bishops are judges in Israel; they are not a substitute police force, not therapists of last resort, and not guardians of an institution’s reputation against a child’s safety. Where leaders have failed, that failure is sin, not a secret doctrine of concealment. D&C 121 already revoked the priesthood of the man who covers his sins and dominates souls.

The Church’s position is that abuse cannot be tolerated in any form. Members should report abuse to legal authorities.

Report abuse to civil authorities. That is the first duty, not the last.
Church discipline may follow; it does not replace criminal law.
A millstone is the Savior’s sentence on those who harm little ones—not a media strategy.
Helplines and policies exist to aid leaders in protecting the vulnerable, not to delay a phone call to the police.

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FAIR Latter-day Saints

Abuse reporting and clergy

FAIR Latter-day Saints

Some critics describe every tragedy as a conspiracy. Some defenders describe every policy as sufficient. Neither is the gospel. The Restoration’s texts already hand criminals to the law of the land. Clergy-penitent questions in some jurisdictions are legal, not revelatory, and they do not cancel the moral duty to protect. Survivors are not enemies of the Church for telling the truth.

A church that believes D&C 42 cannot treat the courthouse as optional. The Saints should be the first to call, not the last.

Confession of sin is not a shield for ongoing crime.
Honesty about past failures is compatible with defending the Church’s actual doctrine.

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