USA Today - June 10, 2011
Catholic bishops to take second look at abuse reforms
By Daniel Burke, Religion News Service
(RNS) A review of church sex abuse guidelines will top the agenda when the nation's Roman Catholic bishops meet in Seattle next week (June 15-17). But no major changes have been proposed, according to church leaders, even after several recent reports have raised questions about the rules' power to remove abusive priests.
The stakes at the Seattle meeting will be high, as the bishops struggle to recover their moral authority and end the worst crisis in modern church history.
The U.S. church has spent more than $2 billion on sex abuse settlements, "safe environment" training for staff, and two sweeping studies that sought to explain the causes and context of a scandal that has claimed 15,700 victims since 1950.
The Seattle assembly will also provide a leadership test for Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, who will guide nearly 200 U.S. bishops in his first meeting as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In addition to reviewing the sexual abuse guidelines, the bishops will vote on a document that denounces physician-assisted suicide and hear a report on Anglicans who wish to convert to Catholicism using a new church structure.
The sex abuse guidelines, however, are expected to dominate public sessions and private conversations during the three-day meeting.
Even as the bishops attempt to move past the scandal, advocates for victims of sexual abuse and some lay Catholics say recent reports of lapses by bishops in Pennsylvania, Missouri and New Mexico prove that serious gaps mar church rules.
"In three dioceses now, there appear to be loopholes that are being exploited by bishops who appear to be gaming the system," said Nicholas Cafardi, a leading expert on canon law and former adviser to the bishops.
Cafardi and others hope the bishops close those loopholes in Seattle, but a draft proposal provided by the bishops' conference contains no such revisions.
In Philadelphia, a grand jury report released in February accused church officials of keeping 37 priests in active ministry, despite accusations of improper sexual acts with minors. The archdiocese later suspended 26 priests and has mounted an internal investigation.
Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn has apologized for failing to remove a priest from ministry despite a warning from church officials. The priest was arrested in May on child pornography charges. The diocese appointed a former U.S. attorney on Thursday to investigate its sexual abuse policies.
In Gallup, N.M., a lay review board has never met with Bishop James S. Wall during his two years in the diocese, according to the Gallup Independent, a local newspaper.
Together, the U.S. bishops passed two sets of guidelines in 2002, as the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in Boston and spread to nearly every diocese in the country.
The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People is essentially a set of promises from the bishops to their church. The "Essential Norms" for dealing with allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy are Vatican-approved rules that have the force of church law.
Neither requires substantial revisions at this time, said Bishop Blase Cupich of Spokane, Wash., chairman of the bishops' Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People.
"The charter is working," Cupich said. "We had seven (sexual abuse) allegations that were deemed credible in 2010, out of a church of 65 million Catholics. I think it's working."
Cupich also said it would be rash to revise church rules before the internal investigation in Philadelphia is complete.
"The charter has an iconic status for us. We want to protect its integrity. We are going to be very slow in changing it without having the full picture in a given situation," the bishop said.
Cafardi agreed that the charter and norms have been effective.
"I think they have done a wonderful service to the church in greatly reducing the number of instances of child sexual abuse by priests," he said. "But we know by instances in three dioceses that there are some gaps that it would not hurt to close."
According to a draft of proposed revisions that will be debated in Seattle, the bishops plan to change the policies to bring them into accord with Vatican norms issued in 2010. Those norms equate abusing persons with mental disabilities with child abuse, and make the acquisition, possession, or distribution of child pornography a church crime.
Victims' advocates and canon law experts say the bishops should go further, arguing that church rules will remain ineffective unless they contain penalties for breaking them.
"This isn't a real set of laws, these are procedures that are honored more in the breach than in the observance," said Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, a watchdog website.
"If I was a bishop, I would treat Philadelphia as an alarm. This is one of the largest, most significant dioceses in the country, which clearly ignored the policy," he said.
Church rules also suggest that bishops report all abuse accusations to diocesan review boards composed of lay Catholics. Board members in Philadelphia and Kansas City have said they did not learn of accusations until they were published in the media.
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UK High Court rules Catholic Church liable for crimes of priests
ReplyDeleteBy STEVE DOUGHTY, Daily Mail November 9, 2011
Dressed as Father Christmas, with a girl perched on his lap, this is Father Wilfred Baldwin, accused of raping children at a Roman Catholic Church-run home. It is an image which still haunts the alleged victim who won a High Court battle yesterday. In the landmark ruling, the Roman Catholic Church faces having to pay millions to sex abuse victims after the court ruled it could be liable for priests' crimes.
‘There are things I have hated for years because of it,’ she said. ‘I can’t stand Christmas because he used to abuse me dressed as Father Christmas.’ The mother of three, an administrator, says she suffered flashbacks and nightmares and has tried to commit suicide.
She claims she was assaulted during two years at The Firs, in Waterlooville, Hampshire, which has now closed, after being sent there with her three siblings.
She said he would sexually assault her as ‘punishment’ for misbehaviour, adding: ‘The nuns knew. He was allowed to take any child and rape them. It was always my fault. He would even make me give money afterwards, tuppence in the poor box. He said God had told him to do it.’ JGE, as she was referred to in court, never spoke of what happened until she was contacted by police investigating abuse allegations at the home.
‘I didn’t tell anyone,’ she said, ‘even one of my siblings who I found out later had also been sexually assaulted.’
In the landmark ruling, Mr Justice MacDuff said the Church can be held responsible for the sins of its clergy because of the ‘immense power’ it gave them. His judgment could lead to thousands of claims by people in England and Wales who say they were sexually abused by priests, perhaps decades earlier. It also means the Church may be held to account for other criminal acts by priests.
In the test case yesterday, Mr Justice MacDuff found that the behaviour of Father Baldwin, who died in 2006. was the Church’s responsibility.
The decision means the victim can sue the Bishop of Portsmouth, Crispian Hollis. The Church told the court it should not be answerable for wrongdoing by Father Baldwin because it did not employ him. Lawyers for the Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust, led by Lord Faulks QC, said priests were not paid by the diocese, nor could they be disciplined or sacked by the bishop. They lived on money from the collection plate and a priest could not even be made to change his job without agreeing.
But Mr Justice MacDuff said: ‘Father Baldwin was appointed by and on behalf of the defendants.
‘He was provided with the premises, the pulpit and the clerical robes. 'He was directed into the community with that full authority and was given free rein to act as a representative of the Church. 'He had been trained and ordained for that purpose. He had immense power handed to him by the defendants. 'It was their empowerment of the priest which materially increased the risk of sexual assault, the granting of the power to exploit and misuse the trust which the defendants had granted to him.’
The diocese refused to comment but is expected to appeal. Anne Lawrence, of the victim support group Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors, said she was relieved by the ruling, adding: ‘We hope it opens the way for the settlement of many hundreds of cases pending in courts.’ The Church has been trying for a decade to end scandals over sexual abuse by priests, and is set to publish a report today on abuse at a school in Ealing, West London.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2058946/Catholic-Church-responsible-1970s-rape-girl-7-priest-Wilfred-Baldwin.html
How can we ever get rid of child abuse, especially by religious people when all they get is about 5 years. priests get 5 hail marys.
ReplyDeleteWhy does the tv stations never bring this up,but they will bring up anything to do with money.
Victims blast Dolan & Vatican over serial predator priest ruling
ReplyDeletePOSTED BY MARY CAPLAN, SNAP FEBRUARY 02, 2012
In a new decision, Vatican officials are refusing to defrock a serial predator priest, Msgr. Wallace A. Harris, and NY Archbishop Timothy Dolan is quietly going along with the reckless decision.
In 2010, Dolan quietly let this prominent and powerful priest quietly resign from his Harlem parish, deliberately and deceptively leaving the impression that he was stepping aside because of alleged health problems. Dolan knew then that Harris had been accused by at least ten men of sexually assaulting them when they were kids.
Still, despite repeated promises to be “transparent” in child sex cases, Dolan only hinted to only one group of parishioners at only one church that the accusations against Harris were credible, letting many of them believe their pastor was innocent but beset with health issues and leaving for that reason.
And now Dolan, who so vigorously pledges to be “open” about clergy sexual abuse, refuses to even disclose where Harris is.
Catholic officials often claim to be “monitoring” or “supervising” child molesting clerics. Hundreds of times, however, those promises have been broken and more innocent lives have been devastated. If Harris is truly in a secure, remote and professionally run treatment center, why won’t Dolan clearly say so and tell his flock where it is?
It’s very likely that many of Harris’ former flock believe he’s innocent. Dolan can and should dispel this dangerous myth. But he hasn’t and he won’t.
And it’s likely that Harris could be criminally prosecuted for child sex crimes. Dolan should try to make this happen, by using his massive resources and bully pulpit to beg victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call police. But he hasn’t and he won’t.
Like most of his peers, in clergy sex abuse and cover up cases, Dolan continues to do the absolute bare minimum.
Here are two other recent clergy sex cases in which Dolan has acted irresponsibly.
READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AT:
http://www.snapnetwork.org/victims_blast_dolan_vatican_over_serial_predator_priest_ruling
Allentown bishop at meeting where cardinal ordered sex abuse memo shredded, according to court claim
ReplyDeleteLehigh Valley Express-Times February 25, 2012
Bishop Edward P. Cullen was in on a 1994 meeting in which Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua ordered a list of 35 problem priests destroyed, according to a court filing.
Cullen, who served as bishop of the Diocese of Allentown from 1998 to 2009 and still lives in the Allentown area, had previously served as top aide under Bevilacqua.
Matt Kerr, a spokesman for the Allentown diocese, referred requests for comment to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
In Philadelphia, Monsignor William Lynn is facing trial in a priest-abuse scandal; jury selection is under way. Lynn is the first U.S. church official charged for allegedly keeping predator-priests in ministry.
Lynn asked Friday to have his conspiracy and child-endangerment case thrown out based on new evidence of the list, which Lynn contends corroborates his claims that efforts to conceal clergy sex abuse were orchestrated at levels above him.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Lynn’s filing claims Bevilacqua discussed the memo in a March 15, 1994, meeting with Monsignor James Molloy, the assistant vicar for administration, and Cullen, who was then the cardinal's top aide.
After the meeting, Bevilacqua allegedly ordered Molloy to shred the memo, which Lynn had produced.
Lynn in 1992 began combing the secret personnel files of hundreds of priests to gauge the scope of misconduct involving children, the Inquirer reported based on the court filing. He did it, his lawyers said, because he “felt it was the right thing to do,” the newspaper reported.
Bevilacqua, who died last month, was never charged in the clergy sex-abuse scandal.
Cullen, who also was never charged, testified before a Philadelphia grand jury in 2005 that Bevilacqua was insistent in all cases that parishioners not be told the truth about abusive priests.
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/allentown/index.ssf/2012/02/post_72.html
Clergy-abuse reporting under fire from DAs
ReplyDeleteBy Brendan J. Lyons, Albany Times Union March 5, 2012
An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that a 2002 letter from 14 district attorneys to the Albany diocese had not been made public at the time.
ALBANY -— Fourteen district attorneys whose counties are within the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese have called on Bishop Howard J. Hubbard to reshape the diocese's handling of sexual abuse complaints against clergy and other employees.
Citing "concerns about how these cases are being handled," the district attorneys all signed a proposed memorandum of understanding that was presented to Hubbard early last month. Hubbard, who has been bishop since 1977, signed the document Friday, a day after the Times Union asked the diocese questions about it. He declined a request for an interview.
The district attorneys signed the memorandum in alphabetical order of their counties, which include the greater Capital Region and an area covering dozens of churches and Catholic schools from Delaware to Washington counties.
The memorandum was shown to the Times Union by two people not authorized to comment publicly. It marks the second time since 2002 that the district attorneys have banded together and privately raised questions about the diocese's handling of sexual abuse cases, including whether church leaders had once systematically shielded accused priests from law enforcement scrutiny.
In the letter to Hubbard, the district attorneys said the diocese's current practice is problematic because church officials screen people who come forward with allegations of sexual abuse before law enforcement officials are notified. The victims are also required to fill out detailed forms about the abuse and the effect it has had on them, and to sign waivers giving the church access to their medical records.
"This stated policy of the Albany diocese does not require the diocese to notify law enforcement of any allegation that the diocese does not find credible or believes is beyond the statute of limitations," the district attorneys' letter says. The diocese's system "has resulted in a screening process of cases by which the Albany diocese makes a determination on credibility, requires any person making an allegation to fill out a questionnaire, provide a deposition, names of witnesses and sign HIPPA (health information privacy) releases."
Once an abuse allegation has been processed by the diocese, Michael L. Costello, an Albany attorney whose firm has represented the diocese for decades, sends a letter to the district attorney whose county is where any alleged abuse took place.
Costello's letters do not give many details or identify the victim. Last November, Costello withheld the name of an accused clergy member in a letter to the Warren County district attorney relaying a new abuse allegation. His letter to District Attorney Kathleen B. Hogan said the priest's name was "available upon request." He identified the victim as born in 1965 and a resident of Texas.
The concerns raised by the region's top law enforcement officials come 10 years after their agencies issued a similar letter to the diocese to "express the grave concerns of our constituencies about the manner in which such cases have been handled in the past," said the letter, dated April 11, 2002.
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ReplyDeleteIn a statement issued late Friday, the diocese cast the recent demands from 14 district attorneys as a collective effort with the church.
Kenneth Goldfarb, a diocese spokesman, said: "The diocese is working with the district attorneys to develop a new agreement that updates the initial 2002 protocol that established a standardized practice for reporting allegations of abuse to law enforcement agencies."
The diocese's handling of sexual abuse allegations came under extreme scrutiny in 2008 when Gary Mercure, a former longtime priest in the Albany and Glens Falls areas, was accused of raping young boys in the 1980s and 1990s. In the mid-1990s, the diocese sent Mercure to a church-run hospital near Philadelphia, St. John Vianney, for undisclosed counseling and what church officials described as a "nervous breakdown."
Mercure was later returned to the ministry. Then, around 2000, a mother of two former altar boys in Glens Falls contacted church officials and reported that her son had told her Mercure had once tried to kiss him on the family's front porch.
The woman, who now lives in another state and spoke to the Times Union on the condition she not be identified, said she was put in touch with Father Louis Deimeke, a diocese official who later retired.
"He wanted to know 'what do you want from us,'" she said. "I said we don't want any money ... I'm calling to protect other children."
She said Deimeke acknowledged they'd "had problems" with Mercure.
Church officials would later say Mercure denied the allegations and resumed his ministry duties in Troy.
The woman said about a year later she learned Deimeke would be at St. Mary's Church in Glens Falls. She waited and followed him into the sacistry, where she introduced herself.
"He did not acknowledge me in any way shape or form," the woman said. "He continued to put his coat on and walked out the sacistry door and out of the church. I stood there dumbfounded."
In 2008, after one of her sons learned Mercure was still a priest at an area church affiliated with a school, the alleged victim contacted the Warren County district attorney and recounted years of alleged abuse at Mercure's hands. On paper, it looked as though the New York statute of limitations barred any prosecution. Hogan investigated and learned Mercure had raped some of his victims in Massachussetts, where his crimes were not time-barred from prosecution.
Last year Mercure was sentenced in Berkshire County to more than 20 years in prison after being convicted of three counts of forcible rape.
The former Glens Falls-area woman, whose son testified at Mercure's trial, said no one from the diocese contacted law enforcement. "They never reported it," she said. In 2000, her sons were adults but reluctant to tell the chuch what had happened. But they may have told police, she added.
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ReplyDeleteThe 2002 letter from 14 district attorneys to the diocese also outlined concerns about the diocese's reporting practices and noted that other public and private organizations "nearly universally" would contact law enforcement.
"There is the legitimate view held by many of our constituents that the policy and practice of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese has been to shield individual offenders from the criminal justice system," the district attorneys wrote. "There exists a truly grave concern that the policy and practices of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese places individual offenders into a position where such individuals could victimize young people."
Before 2002, it's unclear the diocese had ever proactively reported allegations of sexual abuse to law enforcement.
In December, in response to questions from the Times Union about its past reporting practices, the diocese said that prior to 2002 it would "defer to the wishes of the complainant/victim."
"When an allegation of clergy sexual misconduct was received by the diocese between 1977 and 2002, the diocese's approach was to investigate the allegation, offer counseling and other appropriate assistance requested by the victim, and take appropriate action against the accused priest," Goldfarb said in a Dec. 22 statement. "To the best of our recollection, no complainant/victim or their attorneys ever asked that the diocese contact a law enforcement agency. The accused priest was placed on administrative leave from ministry until an independent psychologist certified that he was not at risk to re-offend."
After 2002, and under pressure to change its handling of abuse complaints, the diocese adopted a policy to notify district attorneys when an alleged victim came forward. Goldfarb said the changes were made by a task force and that the diocese adopted recommendations from the district attorneys.
Now, the district attorneys have asked the diocese not to ask the alleged victim or person reporting the allegation to "make or sign any statements." They also are directing the diocese to comply with any subpoenas for documents or witnesses.
In addition, the district attorneys have asked the diocese to promptly report allegations of sexual or physical abuse without conducting any screening or "diocesan investigation." Their reports to law enforcment should include the name, address and telephone number of the accused and the victim and any contact information for the person reporting the abuse. They also asked that the diocese refrain from requesting additional information from the person reporting the abuse.
The counties represented by the district attorneys who signed the memorandum are: Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Fulton, Greene, Herkimer, Montgomery, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren and Washington.
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Clergy-abuse-reporting-under-fire-from-DAs-3380015.php