Week
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June 12, 2002
Inside the Register
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Denver bishops seek input from lay advisory board prior to Dallas meeting
Denver D.A. Bill Ritter and seminary leaders also advise the bishops
By Roxanne King
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., and auxiliary Bishop José H. Gomez listened to discussion and advice from members of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council (APC) and Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter on June 8, just days before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' meeting in Dallas on a charter to address the clergy sex abuse scandal.
The
APC, a 24-person, predominantly lay senior advisory group from around
the archdiocese, began a discussion of the sexual misconduct issue at
its March meeting. This time, members heard presentations not only from
Ritter, but also from Msgr. Tom Fryar, vicar for clergy and seminarians;
Msgr. Walker Nickless, vicar general and former vicar for clergy; Father
Christopher Hellstrom, Spirituality Year director at St. John Vianney
Theological Seminary; Father David Songy, O.F.M. Cap., director of formation
at the seminary and a licensed clinical psychologist; and Charles Goldberg,
legal counsel for the Archdiocese of the Denver. Father Kent Drotar, vocations
director for the archdiocese, provided written comments.
The bishops were seeking the APC's input prior to attending the three-day U.S. bishops' meeting, June 13-15. A draft charter released June 4 by the U.S. bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse calls for laicization among priests who abuse minors in the future or have offended more than once in the past. One-time offenders from the past would have the possibility of returning to supervised ministry, but only after approval from a lay-dominated diocesan review board, disclosure of the offense to the community in which the priest would serve, acceptance from that community, and other restrictions. (The complete charter is available on the archdiocesan Web site, www.archden.org.)
Ritter, who has reviewed and publicly praised the archdiocesan sexual misconduct policy, outlined the laws governing sexual abuse, and the responsibilities of citizens and Church authorities in identifying, reporting and preventing such crimes. He also offered his thoughts on the bishops' draft charter. A bill recently passed by the Colorado House and Senate and signed into law by Gov. Bill Owens added clergy to those who are required to report suspected abuse of a child to civil authorities. Ritter noted that this had already been the voluntary policy of the archdiocese for the past 11 years - a proactive approach "that was extraordinary." State law also recently changed to give more time to those who experienced sex abuse as minors to file charges, Ritter said.
The old statute of limitations was 10 years from the incident. The law is now 10 years from when the victim turns 18, he explained. Goldberg, who has provided legal counsel to the archdiocese since 1981, said the U.S. bishops' sexual abuse charter is similar in several key ways to the one the archdiocese has had in effect since 1991. If approved, the charter would extend and improve some elements - for example, victim outreach and lay involvement in the accusation-review process -- already in place in the archdiocesan policy, Goldberg said.
Msgrs. Fryar and Nickless, and Goldberg discussed the specifics of hypothetical clergy sexual misconduct cases and how the archdiocese handles them. They also discussed the reasons behind Church policies in the past, how and why diocesan policies began to change in the late 1980s, and why some dioceses may have been struck so hard by the current clergy misconduct crisis.
Selecting and forming motivated, well-balanced seminarians play a key role in sustaining and renewing priestly service, said Fathers Hellstrom and Songy. At St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, all candidates undergo an extensive screening process that includes a state criminal background check, a psychological exam and a rigorous interview with an admissions board.
"The screening process is very thorough," Father Hellstrom said. Once accepted, seminarians receive on-going formation and education in human sexuality that includes a strong, positive emphasis on celibate chastity and Pope John Paul II's teachings on the theology of the body, the priests said.
"Because of the recent crisis, we've been addressing (the sexual misconduct issue) from all perspectives," Father Songy noted.
APC members said they were pleased with what the archdiocese is doing about the sex abuse crisis and how it is forming priests. Toni Armstead of St. Ignatius Loyola Parish said she was "encouraged" by the meeting.
"The archdiocese has had a policy in place for over 10 years on sex abuse," said Bob Owens, 75, of Risen Christ Parish. "I think it's worked well here and this will prove the point that each diocese should enforce the national policy they put in place."
Although reassured by what the local Church is doing to deal with the clergy sexual misconduct issue, Spencer Gardner, 43, of Our Lady of the Snow in Granby, said he doesn't envy the U.S. bishops' task in Dallas. "They have a tough decision to make and I wouldn't want to make that decision," Gardner said. "I hope the bishops come up with a decision that is good for the people and the Church."
The difficulty facing the bishops was reflected in a final APC vote. Asked by the archbishop for a show of hands on a "zero tolerance" policy in clergy sexual abuse cases, APC members took a unanimously strong line for laicization in any future cases of abuse.
But, like the bishops themselves, members divided on whether to laicize single-abuse offenders from the past who've had a clean record in the years since their offense.