U.S. dioceses 'pass' first audit on sex abuse

Social justice news
January 2004

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CRS responds to Iran disaster
IDF-style home demolitions in Iraq?
January is poverty awareness month
Social Ministry Gathering convenes Feb. 20
U.S. dioceses 'pass' first audit on sex abuse

U.S. dioceses 'pass' first audit on sex abuse
With bishops across the country perhaps offering a collective sigh of relief as an audit of the national diocesan response to the Dallas charter on the protection of children from clergy sexual abuse indicates substantial compliance, some abuse survivors remain dissatisfied with the audit results and the process that led to them. By the end of 2003, nearly 90 percent of U.S. Catholic dioceses were deemed in compliance with the bishops' national policy on clergy sexual abuse of minors, according to the first national audit report released January 6.

The report said 98 percent to 100 percent of audited dioceses were judged to be in compliance with most elements of the 17-article "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" adopted by the bishops in June 2002. The review found 90 percent of the 195 U.S. dioceses were fully complying with the plan, which dictates how guilty priests should be punished and requires bishops to take steps to protect children. Among the 20 considered out of compliance are the archdioceses of New York; Anchorage, Alaska; and Omaha, Nebraska. Four dioceses were not audited.

There were only two Dallas mandates on which compliance was lower than 98 percent: establishing comprehensive safe environment programs throughout the diocese (91 percent), and conducting background checks on all church employees and volunteers who work with minors (93 percent). Most of the dioceses not in compliance were under instructions to make changes in two or more areas.

But not all U.S. Catholics were reassured by the results of the audit. In a press release at the website for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, Barbara Blaine, SNAP President and Founder, responded with skepticism. "We believe . . . that these so-called audits are fundamentally flawed. They are a small step forward. But they are already being mischaracterized and oversold by self-congratulatory bishops.

"Essentially, bishops have defined the rules of the game, decided who plays, paid the umpires, and are now declaring themselves the winners. They defined the rules, by writing up the Dallas charter themselves, a very weak and vague document. They've decided who plays, by determining who the interview teams got to speak to. They paid the umpires, by appointing the National Review Boards.

Now, all across the country, bishops are using these upcoming reports to proclaim 'We're doing all we should be doing.'

"There are many questions about this whole process. The answers, we feel, are disturbing."

According to SNAP, unlike standard audits where investigators can compel access to objective data—bank statements, legal documents—interviewers for the Boston-based Gavin Group, whcih conducted the audit, had to rely "largely on subjective material that was given voluntarily, and given by essentially the same men who have, for decades, fought to keep the crimes of clergy concealed."

SNAP also is concerned that only three of its more than 4,600 members representing abuse victims across the country and across decades of U.S. parish life were interviewed during the year-long process. "Furthermore, we believe the interviewers only spoke with victims who came forward after June 2002, only to victims who are not involved in litigation, and only to victims whose names they were given by Church officials. We fear that few prosecutors, attorneys, Voice of the Faithful leaders, or journalists were interviewed."

The auditors themselves acknowledged both of these issues in a review of these and other weaknesses of the audit.

SNAP did find some positives in the audit, which it called "baby steps toward accountability." The group said that the new diocesan safe environment programs should "help catch some molesters sooner and keep some children from being harmed." SNAP still warned against general complacency on the problem of clergy sexual abuse. "We fear that some bishops will relax their efforts, having now been deemed 'compliant' by a couple of retired bureaucrats. If that happens, we hope that vigilant Catholics will speak out against such backsliding."

In Gavin's initial on-site audits, conducted between June and November, a little more than one-fourth of dioceses were in full compliance on everything. Another two-fifths were basically in compliance but received one or more recommendations to improve their policies or practices in certain areas. Two areas proved particularly difficult for dioceses: implementation of safe environment programs and full background checks on all diocesan employees and volunteers who work with minors.

A complete safe environment program would include training sessions for all church employees and volunteers on the church's abuse policies, appropriate boundaries to maintain in dealing with minors, and how to recognize and report signs of possible sexual abuse. It would also include parish-based education on sexual abuse for parents and other adults and age-appropriate education for children and youth on recognizing improper conduct and reporting it.

Twenty-eight dioceses received instructions on safe environment programs, indicating that what they had in place so far was inadequate, and 47 received recommendations for further improvement.

Thirty-two dioceses received instructions on implementing the charter's requirement of background checks for all church employees and volunteers who work with minors; 39 received recommendations for improvement in that area.

Excluding dioceses that subsequently reached compliance, however, by the time of the final report only 9 percent of dioceses were not in compliance on safe environment programs. Only 7 percent were still not in compliance in the area of background checks on employees and volunteers.

Late next month, another report—a nationwide survey by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice on the nature and scope of clergy sexual abuse of minors in the last 50 years—is scheduled to be issued.

For more information:
Charter backgrounders
Summary report by diocese
Summary report by state

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