Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
June 12, 2002
Bishops to vote on child protection charter with zero tolerance
Draft calls for laicizing pedophiles and civil reporting of all cases involving minors
By Jerry Filteau
WASHINGTON (CNS) — The national sex abuse policy the U.S. bishops will be asked to approve in Dallas June 13-15 calls for laicizing any priest or deacon who commits even one act of abuse of a minor in the future.
It also calls for laicizing anyone who has committed more than one abusive act in the past or who is diagnosed as a pedophile.
For a one-time past offender who has been treated, it calls for stringent review by a predominantly lay diocesan review board to determine whether he can be returned to any kind of ministry. Such a review would include hearing from the victim. If the former abuser should receive any new assignment, it would be under restrictive conditions and with full disclosure "to those with whom he will live and serve."
Whenever an accusation is made in the future, if the victim is still a minor the proposal would require the diocese to report it to civil authorities, even in states where this is not required by law. It calls on dioceses to cooperate with authorities on reporting if the alleged victim is no longer a minor and to encourage victims themselves to contact civil authorities in all cases.
The proposal would establish a national Office for Child and Youth Protection in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, to be assisted and monitored by a national review board appointed by Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., USCCB president.
It calls for a commission to research how the U.S. Church has responded to the problem.
Confidentiality agreements — once-standard procedure in settling such cases, but much criticized in the crisis of recent months — would be strongly discouraged.
"In the past, secrecy has created an atmosphere that has inhibited the healing process and, in some cases, enabled sexually abusive behavior to be repeated," the draft document says. "Dioceses will not enter into confidentiality agreements except for grave and substantial reasons brought forward by the victim."
The 3,000-word proposal is titled "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People." The nation's bishops are to debate and vote on it when they meet in Dallas. To give adequate attention to the issue, they have removed almost everything else from the meeting's agenda.
The bishops are to vote separately on a shorter legal document expressing the policy canonically in binding legislation, which also must be approved by the Holy See.
In an unusual decision at a special Vatican summit in April with top U.S. Church leaders, the USCCB got clearance to develop a single binding national policy for all dioceses. Until now, the bishops have had national guidelines, principles and models for diocesan policies, but implementation and interpretation at the local level has been uneven.
The proposed charter was developed by the bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse, chaired by Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis. He presented it at a media briefing June 4 at USCCB headquarters in Washington.
The draft charter opens with a preamble calling the sex abuse crisis in the Church "without precedent in our times."
The bishops express "great sorrow and profound regret for what the Catholic people have had to endure."
"The sexual abuse of children and young people by some priests and bishops, and the ways in which these crimes and sins were too often dealt with by bishops, have caused enormous pain, anger and confusion," the preamble says.
In it the bishops acknowledge the "devastating and long-lasting" effects of sexual abuse, apologize to the victims and offer assistance.
They quote Jesus' "grave warning about those who would lead the little ones astray, saying that it would be better for such a person `to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.'"
The policy norms are divided into 18 articles set out under four headings: promoting healing and reconciliation with victims, guaranteeing an effective response to allegations, assuring accountability, and protecting children and youth in the future.
The three-article section on healing and reconciliation, which ends with the rule against secrecy, opens with a basic commitment to "reach out to victim/survivors and their families and communicate sincere commitment to their spiritual and emotional well-being."
It calls for every diocese to develop outreach to all sexual abuse victims of Church personnel, present or past, including "counseling, support groups and other services chosen by the victim." It says that through that outreach "the diocesan bishop will offer to meet with (victims and their families), to listen to their concerns."
Article 2 calls for every diocese to "have in place the mechanisms to respond promptly to any allegation," including a trained assistance coordinator and a "review board, the majority of whom will be lay persons not in the employ of the diocese" to assess allegations, monitor policy and procedures and advise the bishop.
The first two articles on guaranteeing an effective response to allegations deal with the civil reporting norms and the removal of priests who abuse. The latter cites Pope John Paul II's declaration that "there is no place in the priesthood or religious life for those who would harm the young" as grounds henceforth for laicizing anyone who abuses even once.
A key article in the response section expands beyond abuse of minors to address the need for clear standards of ministerial behavior in areas such as sexual harassment or sexual misconduct "involving young women and men who have recently attained legal adulthood."
Another article addresses the need for "a communications policy that reflects a commitment to transparency and openness."
Articles 8-12 address accountability.
The first covers establishment of the USCCB child protection office and its duties, which include assisting dioceses and assessing their policies and providing an annual public progress report.
The national review board proposed in Article 9 would include parents and would oversee the implementation of the charter in every diocese. It would assist and monitor the national office and have to approve its yearly report before it is published.
Article 10 calls for reconstituting the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse so that it includes a representative from each USCCB region. There are currently 13 regions, but a proposal also before the June meeting would raise that to 14 by dividing one region into two.
Article 11 would have Bishop Gregory form a national research commission to study the Church's response to the problem, and Article 12 would mandate that he report to the Holy See on the charter and how it would be implemented.
The last six articles, devoted to future prevention of sex abuse, address:
— "Safe environment" programs of education and training against sex abuse in all dioceses.
— Evaluation and screening for all Church personnel who have contact with children.
— Rules for background reporting from the sending bishop or religious superior concerning any cleric proposed for assignment, transfer or residence in a different diocese.
— Regular meetings of bishops and religious superiors concerning their respective roles when an allegation is made against a member of a religious order.
— Cooperation with other churches and social institutions to combat sexual abuse of minors throughout society.
— Support for a new apostolic visitation of all U.S. seminaries, as proposed by the Vatican summit in April.
The charter concludes with a review of the crisis currently facing the Church and a series of commitments by the bishops, including a pledge to devote "the resources and personnel necessary" to achieve the goal of protecting children.
An appendix on past clerical sex offenders who have successfully undergone treatment sets out in detail various considerations to be taken into account in determining whether he is suitable for any form of public ministry or not, and the issues to be addressed in either of those cases.
Since the current national crisis erupted in January, many priests across the country who had received treatment following an allegation and had been allowed to return to some form of ministry have now been permanently barred from all Church ministry. Many but not all of those cases involved priests who were accused by more than one victim.
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