As Catholic leaders released a long-awaited report that found most American dioceses are implementing required programs to prevent abuse of minors by priests, observers said Tuesday that the steps taken so far are admirable–but only a start to resolving the scandal.
The audit, which praised the Archdiocese of Chicago for an innovative counseling program for victims of abuse, said 90 percent of the 194 Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States have complied with rules set out in the summer of 2002 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Twenty dioceses–including New York, Omaha, and Honolulu–have not complied with the regulations, though the report said the reason was lack of resources, not negligence. Among those listed were two Eastern-rite dioceses in Illinois, the Ukrainian Diocese of St. Nicholas and the Syro-Malabar Eparchy of St. Thomas.
“Those 20 dioceses with instructions [for improvements] have substantial work to do. But this doesn’t mean they haven’t started,” said Kathleen McChesney, a former assistant director in the FBI and head of the Office of Child and Youth Protection for the bishops conference. “In many dioceses, limited funding and lack of guidance are the reasons they have not complied.”
Church officials and former FBI officers hired to conduct the audit praised the progress dioceses have made but cautioned that the audit was aimed only at assessing dioceses’ degree of commitment to prevent future abuse. It is unclear if the programs will actually reduce the number of abuse cases.
Dioceses were given three instructions: Revise their current policy on sexual conduct; adopt codes of conduct for clergy and other church personnel who have regular contact with children; and establish a “safe environment program” that focuses on how to prevent the sexual abuse of children and how to spot signs of its occurrence.
Many dioceses that were found to be in compliance still received a list of recommendations, such as calling for greater cooperation between church officials and the civil authorities who investigated abuse allegations. Dioceses were reminded to make background checks on priests and employees.
Self-evaluation praised
Still, the fact that the church took the unprecedented step of self-evaluation won praise from scholars.
“Is [the audit] perfect? No. Is it complete? No. But is it groundbreaking? Yes,” said R. Scott Appleby, an expert on Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame. “This report is just the beginning of evaluating and reforming the process, and we have to admit that no institution has been rocked as hard as the Catholic Church.”
Rev. Robert Silva, president of the Chicago-based National Federation of Priests’ Councils, said that although the report shows a willingness by dioceses to stem sex abuse, the magnitude of the problem will not be known until a second study is released next month. That report will disclose the number of sex abuse cases and clerics involved since 1950.
“This study is meant to ascertain whether or not dioceses are in the process or have completed norms of the charter. The second study will get to the heart of the problem,” Silva said.
Victims’ advocacy groups dismissed the audit, saying it lacked independent documentation and that the church is policing itself. “Essentially, bishops have defined the rules of the game, decided who plays, paid the umpires, and are now declaring themselves the winners,” said a statement by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
The $1.8 million study was carried out by 54 former FBI officers mainly between June 23 and Oct. 31 through the Gavin Group of Boston. McChesney, who led the team, said the audit was based on a wide range of documents and interviews.
“These are independent people who conducted the audit,” she said. “They were not employees of the bishops’ conference. They had access to everything and they interviewed victims, laypeople, child protection people affiliated with local governments, and some accused clergy.”
The Chicago archdiocese was praised in the report for its training program for personnel who assist abuse victims. “Chicago has been training their people for four to five years,” McChesney said. “This predates the sex scandal. They were ahead of it.”
Reminders to Chicago
Auditors made six recommendations to Chicago, including that the archdiocese expedite background checks for all archdiocesan and parish personnel, formalize talks with local law enforcement agencies investigating abuse cases, and create a code of conduct for priests and other employees who deal with children.
Archdiocese Chancellor Jimmy Lago said all recommendations have been completed. “We take our responsibilities here seriously to redress to the extent that we can the wrongs done to victims as well as to the damage done to our local church’s credibility,” he said at a news conference.
Two retired FBI agents conducted the Chicago audit during the last week in July. The auditors met with all personnel in the archdiocese who deal with abuse cases and interviewed state’s attorneys, accused priests and victims, Lago said.
“They took our word for nothing,” he said.
Next month the archdiocese will post information on its Web site that will allow parishioners to look up the past and current assignments of all priests and former priests, whether they have ever been accused of misconduct and the status of investigations into the alleged crimes, Lago said.
Since the charter was issued in 2002, nine priests in the Chicago archdiocese have been removed, Lago said.
Work ahead for New York
The archdiocese of New York–among the 10 percent of dioceses still considered to be out of compliance–illustrates the complexities of the auditing process. It was found to have complied fully with two of the three directives.
“The audit found that we had not completed the implementation phase of our safe environment program,” said Joseph Zwilling, director of communications for the archdiocese. “But we are well into the process of doing that. In fact, it should be implemented by the end of this school year.”
Zwilling pointed to the size of the archdiocese–in geography, population and diversity–as the reason it has yet to comply with all instructions. The diocese is a behemoth, spanning 10 counties in southeast New York and including 413 parishes in neighborhoods that encompass every socioeconomic level.
The audit pointed to signs of improvement in New York, citing its dissemination of procedures for reporting abuse in the archdiocesan newspaper and on its Web site, its establishment of a policy of reporting all allegations of abuse to local district attorneys and its “clear and well-publicized codes of conduct for clergy.”
However, critics point to the archdiocese’s tardiness in implementing the safe environment program as a sign that it is not truly committed to eradicating abuse.
The audit asserts that New York is making headway on the issue. It has hired a director for its safe environment program and is preparing to train some 25,000 archdiocesan personnel in the coming months. Implementation of the program, according to both the audit and Zwilling, was slowed in some New York Catholic schools because of a battle with teacher unions over background checks for school employees.
One frustration to critics of the audit is that no mechanisms are in place to punish archdioceses that do not comply.
“There should be some sanctions in place that will urge bishops to do the right thing here,” David Cerulli of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). “And, so far, none exist.”
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10% of dioceses not in compliance with rules
Of the 194 Roman Catholic dioceses nationwide, 20 still have not complied with a church charter designed to prevent sexual abuse of minors by priests, according to a church audit released Tuesday. Adopted in June 2002, the charter contains 17 articles that deal with issues pertaining to establishing codes of conduct, safe environment programs and background investigations.
DIOCESE/EPARCHY, Includes Eastern rite branch, STATE, ARTICLES NOT IN COMPLIANCE
Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska, Articles 2,5,12,13
Archdiocese of New York, New York, Article 12
Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, Articles 2,4,7,12
Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic, New Jersey, Articles 2,6,12
Diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana, Articles 12,13
Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, Articles 12,13
Diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota, Article 12
Diocese of Honolulu, Hawaii, Articles 6,12,13
Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, Article 13
Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, Articles 9,13
Diocese of Memphis, Tennessee, Articles 12,13
Diocese of Newton (Melkite-Greek), Massachusetts, Articles 9,12,13
Diocese of Our Lady of Deliverance, New Jersey, Articles 9,12
Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, Article 12
Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, Articles 12,13
Diocese of St. Nicholas in Chicago for Ukrainians, Illinois, Article 12
Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn, New York, Articles 9,12,13
Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle, Michigan, Articles 1,2,4,5,6,7,12,13
St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago, Illinois, Articles 7,12,13,17
Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of St. Josephat in Parma, Ohio, Articles 12,13
ARTICLES IN THE CHARTER
0 Not in compliance
1. Promoting healing and reconciliation with victims of sexual abuse of minors
2. Establishing mechanisms to respond promptly to sexual abuse allegations
3. Declining to enter into confidentiality agreements with victims except for grave reasons
4. Reporting allegations of sexual abuse to and cooperating with public authorities
5. Initiating preliminary investigation and applying precautionary measures
6. Establishing standards of ministerial behavior and appropriate boundaries for clergy
7. Developing a communications policy
8. Working with the Office of Child and Youth Protection
9. Participating in National Review Board’s research study on the scope of sexual abuse problems in the Catholic Church
10. Participating in the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse
11. Notifying the Holy See of the charter
12. Establishing safe environment programs to provide training for parents, educators and clergy
13. Conducting background investigations of parish personnel
14. Declining to transfer a priest or deacon who has committed an act of sexual abuse to another diocese
15. Maintaining coordination between the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men
16. Cooperating with other churches, religious bodies and learning institutions
17. Implementing formation programs that train priest
Source: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Chicago Tribune
