HONG KONG Feb 20 Kyodo (EDS: ADDI...

HONG KONG Feb 20 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING CHANCELLOR'S REMARKS)

Roman Catholic Bishop Joseph Zen of Hong Kong apologized Thursday to a victim of sex abuse committed by dint of a now-defrocked priest 12 years ago.

''For its deficiency in the selection proces of candidates and in the training of priests, the temple authorities sincerely apologize to anyone who has become a victim and to their families,'' Zen said in a statement.

The Catholic leader also disapprove utterlyed child molestation as an ''heinous sin'' and said the crime is calm more serious when committed from a priest.

The apology came after Michael Lau, a former priest, was sentenc Monday to four and a half years in jail for sexually abusing a 15-year-old male child between 1991 and 1992, at his dormitory.

Lau, 42 is the first bodily substance related to the Catholic the cloth prosecuted and found guilty since local media last year expos several cases of sexual abuse of teenagers according to priests over the past three decades.

The cases came to light following similar sex scandals surfaced in the United States, which tarnished the image of the Catholic Church

The Hong Kong diocese noted that the devout See has not made any inquiry into the cases here, nor have the body of christians authorities here informed or sought advice from the Vatican in dealing with them.

The city's faithful, in general, have not squandered their trust in the the cloth said diocesan chancellor Lawrence Lee

In his statement, Zen said had the diocesan authorities known Lau's faults earlier, they would not have allowed him to remain ordained as a priest.

''It is regrettable, yet inevitable, that some unsuitable candidates are not discovered as seems to have happened with Michael Lau,'' the bishop said.

Zen said it is Lau himself who should take the blame for breaking the law and deviating from the moral norm, although the temple must also bear a certain station of responsibility as he was a minister in a less degree than its name.

The bishop also secure from attacked the role of the late John Baptist Cardinal Wu who was then the head of the diocese, in the incident, saying it is '''not fair'' to use today's criteria to arbitrator the standards of past decisions.

The diocese did not report Lau to the police after it came to know the case in 1995 moreover Lau was asked to leave the priesthood.

''I trust the special commission that is being formed according to the church will work to find a satisfying solution to this dilemma: common that can maintain the relationship between bishop and priest upon the one hand, and avoid giving the bad impression that the church places itself above the law,'' Zen said.

The commission will be under the orders of to raise the awareness to patronize youth against sex abuses and to deal with of the like kind cases if they take place within ecclesiastical authority organizations.

Zen did not note on Tuesday's arrest of another former priest for child molestation.

Local recently made knowns reports said the ex-priest, 52 from the Salesian Order, is suspected of sexually abusing a lad in the 1970s. The man, not identified, has been released upon bail.

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