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Response from parishioners to Church efforts calling attention to inequalities in statute of limitations legislative bills has been keenly positive — and those efforts are reaping some encouraging results, a Church representative reported to the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council March 4.
Christopher Rose, a director with the Colorado Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the Catholic Church in Colorado, was among those making reports to the primarily lay council that serves as a senior advisory group to Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. The council meets quarterly. APC Chair Bob Zarlengo of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Lakewood led the daylong meeting at the John Paul II Center.
Other speakers addressing the council included Nancy Walla, special counsel to the archbishop and liaison to the U.S. bishops’ Office of Child and Youth Protection, and Jamila Spencer, a coordinator with the Colorado Catholic Conference.
Rose reported on the status and consequences of three bills currently before the Colorado General Assembly that would extend or eliminate the statute of limitations for allowing lawsuits on the sexual abuse of minors: House Bills 1088 and 1090 and Senate Bill 143. In their original forms, all three of the bills ignored the serious problem of sexual abuse in public schools and other public institutions, and focused instead on religious and private organizations.
Colorado Catholic Conference representatives, expert witnesses and lay people have faced hostile legislators while testifying on the bills at the State Capitol to urge lawmakers to either amend the bills to make them equal — with the same civil and criminal penalties, financial damages, time frames for lawsuits and statutes of limitations for public and private entities — or to defeat them, said Rose.
A February letter by Archbishop Chaput urging parishioners to contact their legislators about the three bills caused the Colorado Catholic Conference’s legislative network — at 600 members prior to the letter — to more than double in size, reported Rose.
“It’s very gratifying to see that,” he said.
Additionally, Rose said, a recent news story noted that documents secured under open records requests by a Denver newspaper, and radio host and attorney Dan Caplis, revealed that Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Coal Creek Canyon, had received 150 e-mails or letters supporting her bill — SB 143 — and 700 against it.
Also as a result of Church efforts, House Bill 1088, sponsored by Rep. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver, and Sen. Paula Sandoval, D-Denver, was recently amended to eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for incidents of sexual abuse against a minor occurring after July 1, 2006. The revised bill covers all perpetrators equally and is not retroactive — and civil statutes of limitation would remain in place.
The revised HB 1088 has drawn the support of all three Catholic bishops in Colorado.
Unfortunately, SB 143 continues to be a bad bill, said Rose. Senate Bill 143 would open a single two-year period within which victims could sue private but not public institutions for the actions of someone living or dead, regardless of how long ago the alleged abuse occurred. According to the Colorado Catholic Conference, the bill was heavily influenced by plaintiffs’ attorneys who have been involved nationally with lawsuits against the Church.
House Bill 1090, sponsored by Rep. Gwyn Green, D-Golden, would lift the statute of limitations in sex abuse cases involving children. The bill was amended last month to include both public and private institutions, but the language of the bill is confusing and needs further revision, Rose said.
Archbishop Chaput asked the APC members whether they agreed with the Church’s efforts on the three legislative bills. Council members heartily said yes and urged the archbishop to continue those efforts.
Walla delivered an update on current litigation against the Denver Archdiocese, reporting that the current cases that have been filed alleging sexual misconduct against minors by two priests refer to events of 25 to 40 years ago and involve a former priest of the archdiocese and a priest who is now deceased.
Spencer reported on the U.S. bishops’ Justice for Immigrants campaign, a parish-based program being implemented in the Denver Archdiocese that aims to build awareness of Catholic social teaching on immigration and educate the faithful about the need for immigration reform.
In concluding the meeting, Zarlengo announced that APC member Leanne Super of St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Littleton has been named vice chair of the council. She will take over as chair in one year.
