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Lay review board outlines ambitious
agenda
By JOE FEUERHERD
New York
The 13-member lay board, established by the U.S. Catholic bishops
to investigate causes and propose cures to the clerical sexual abuse crisis,
spelled out its plan of action to reporters Jan. 17 at a luncheon briefing on
the final day of the group’s two-day meeting in Manhattan.
The board will:
- Conduct audits in each of the country’s 195 dioceses to
determine the degree of local compliance with the bishops’ June 2002
Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. Each diocese will be
visited by a team of independent examiners who will review files and interview
key officials, according to Kathleen McChesney, director of the bishops’
Office for Child and Youth Protection. The work will begin this summer and
should be completed by the fall, McChesney said.
- Obtain from each diocese the procedures in place for local
review boards whose job, under the charter, is to assist diocesan bishops in
dealing with accusations of clergy abuse.
- Interview approximately 100 church officials and other experts
for a report on the causes of the crisis. “We have to look at the
institution, and at systemic problems,’’ said Washington attorney
Robert Bennett, who is heading the subcommittee preparing the
“causes” report. Said Bennett: “What is the relationship, if
any, of celibacy? What is the relationship, if any, of homosexuality? We are
going to deal with the very tough issues.” Among those scheduled for an
interview: Cardinal Bernard Law, former archbishop of Boston.
- Identify and promote diocesan child protection programs that
can serve as models for the church youth programs throughout the country.
“We will identify the good programs that are out there,” said Jane
Childs, chair of the lay committee’s subcommittee on safe environments.
The subcommittee will visit Boston next month to study the archdiocese’s
ambitious “Protecting God’s Children” program, said Childs.
In addition, the panel is commissioning two studies. The first is
designed to determine the scope of clerical abuse and answer questions such as:
How many priests have engaged in the sexual abuse of minors?
“People have been trying to get their arms around these
numbers for years,” said board member William Burleigh, who said he hopes
the study will “nail down the statistical picture definitively.” The
report, which could be ready as early as June, will include figures on the
costs associated with settling abuse claims.
Further, the board will commission a more comprehensive study,
designed to “give us a context and causes from which this terrible abuse
emerged,” according to board member Paul McHugh, formerly
psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
This “epidemiological survey” will be conducted by an
independent entity experienced in such work and will, among other things,
compare the rate of priestly abuse with sexual abuse of minors in “the
public at large,” said McHugh. The study will be of sufficient rigor to be
published in a peer-reviewed journal, said McHugh.
The board meeting took place amid some controversy, as New York
Cardinal Edward Egan snubbed the board. Although board members who are also
members of the Knights and Dames of Malta had invited all board members to
attend the knights’ annual gala at the Waldorf-Astoria as their guests,
Egan notified the board earlier in the fall that only members of the Malta
organization should attend. He also sent a message suggesting that McChesney
break a speaking engagement at a local church at which she was to discuss her
work as director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection, the investigative
arm of the board. He also denied a request that he or one of his auxiliary
bishops say Mass for the group (NCR, Jan. 24).
Despite that brouhaha, said board members, church officials have
been responsive to the board’s requests. “We are getting the support
and the cooperation of the bishops,” said Bennett. “Combined with
that you have a laity out there that is not going to tolerate a particular
bishop in their diocese if such a bishop decided they were not going to
cooperate with the board.” he continued.
“Ultimately,” said board member Leon Panetta, “this
is about restoring trust.” He continued: “So in the end it’s in
[the bishops’] interest to cooperate in this effort because if we
don’t restore trust it is the church and its institutions that are going
to be damaged.”
Joe Feuerherd is NCR Washington correspondent. His
e-mail address is jfeuerherd@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, January 31,
2003
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