Column
by
Archbishop John G. Vlazny
|
Archbishop's
Column by Archbishop John G. Vlazny |
Church works for just and compassionate
resolution of crisis
03/11/2004
The final week of February presented many
challenges to this archdiocese, some of
which were all too familiar. You may have
seen Bill Murray’s movie, Groundhog Day,
at one time or another. In the movie,
Murray wakes up each morning and discovers
it’s still Groundhog Day, the same thing,
day after day. That’s how many of you
must have felt throughout the events of
those final days of last month as the
Archdiocese of Portland continued its
struggle with the terrible scandal of the
Church’s child sexual abuse crisis. As
the season of Lent began, there were not
only new allegations against one of our
priests, but we also released more
information about the extent of the problem
here in the archdiocese, and the
National Review Board released its report
about the nature and scope of the
problem across these United States.
The sexual abuse of minors by Catholic
priests is a terrible scar on the soul of our Catholic community. The victims
themselves continue to cry out for justice
and compassion. Church authorities scramble to respond appropriately in
a climate exacerbated by the inadequacy
of earlier attempts to rectify the situation. Good people raise serious
questions about the integrity and trustworthiness
of an institution that many thought could never be so humiliated
as has been the experience of one Catholic
diocese after another across these United States, including our own.
The recent allegations and reports raised
some serious questions that deserve some response. Fortunately, I am
not expected to satisfy all these demands
on my own. I am grateful to my colleagues and partners in mission at the
archdiocesan Pastoral Center and in parishes
across western Oregon who have been so cooperative in our efforts to
reach out to victims, to resolve their
claims, and to establish, as best we can, a truly safe environment for
the
protection of our children and young people
in the future. It is our earnest prayer that similar travesties will never
again occur within our faith community.
You can be sure that I took no pleasure
in the accusations directed at me by some that I had been “insensitive”
in
my latest question-and-answer report to
you about the scope of the problem in this archdiocese. One reporter asked
me if there was anything in the report
that I would want to change. There is no need to change anything, but it
would
have been better if I had added some words
about a matter I took for granted. Victims and their attorneys took
offense at my answer to the question,
“Why are the settlements so expensive?” Many of you had expressed concern
that the archdiocese was making payment
on claims that might seem exaggerated or even false. I responded, “We
don’t know — we can only do our best in
the challenging legal situation.” The impression apparently was given that
such was the case in most of the claims.
That is not true. Most of the claims have been very credible, and victims
have been deserving of compensation.
Oregon law raises the bar for the level
of compensation. Even in situations where we are unsure, Oregon law makes
it extremely difficult for the archdiocese
to assert its innocence and to prevail in judicial proceedings. We really
do
want to help victims, but sometimes we
must pay the piper even when we are uncertain about the credibility of
an
allegation.
Time and again, I have offered a truly
heartfelt and fraternal apology to all my brothers and sisters who have
been
victimized sexually by a priest or pastoral
minister of this archdiocese. I have learned from experience that you can
never say “I’m sorry” too much. I reiterate
that apology, and I extend it to those who took offense at the
“insensitivity” of my explanation about
payments in these matters. More than anything, I do want to be sensitive
to
the hurts of victims. Because I failed
some of you in this regard, I am sorry.
Another concern stems from the revelation
that one of our priests had indeed been reassigned to active ministry
after the archdiocese had learned of his
sexual misconduct directed towards children. When this matter came to the
attention of the archdiocese back in 1992,
the priest was immediately relieved from ministry, placed on leave for
counseling and intensive therapy. After
two years of therapy and consultation with his therapist, he was allowed
to
return to ministry on a limited basis,
with careful supervision, in 1994. At that time the policy of this archdiocese
and many others across the country made
such a return to ministry possible in closely supervised situations.
As you know, four years ago, the archdiocese
again became involved in a number of cases relating to child abuse
from decades past. This caused me to re-evaluate
our policy. One year later, I removed the priest from his parochial
ministry. The following year, in compliance
with the American bishops’ Charter, I removed him completely from any
church ministry. He was cooperative then,
just as he had been since he had successfully completed treatment in
1992.
Once again, if the previous policy of the
archdiocese was offensive to anyone or if my delay in changing that policy
after arriving here as your archbishop
in 1997 is troubling, I offer my sincere regrets and assure you that here
in
this archdiocese we do now comply with
the “one strike and you’re out” policy for all church ministers.
The final revelation of that unforgettable
last week of February came when the John Jay College report on the Nature
and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse
of Minors was published and the National Review Board offered its own
report on the Crisis in the Catholic Church
here in our country. The sheer volume of perpetrators, victims and
expenses was overwhelming to most of us,
disheartening to everyone. But we now know the truth. We cannot do
anything about the past. I encourage you
to read the reports and to support the serious steps that must be taken
both by church and society to make sure
that our children are safe for the future. There is probably nothing more
important that we as a church must accomplish
in the coming years than the just and compassionate resolution of
this crisis and the protection of our
children from such unthinkable crimes.
But this is something that a bishop cannot
possibly accomplish on his own. You have witnessed how futile my efforts
have been at times to reach out to victims,
to answer questions adequately, even to enlist full compliance on the
part of all our people with regard to
the procedures and policies we have already put in place to assure the
safety of
all. My friends, this is the work of the
whole church. Everyone’s help is needed. As a church, we are all defendants
together in litigation; we are brothers
and sisters of both the victims and the perpetrators; we are God’s holy
people
committed to the works of justice, the
establishment of right relationships among all people, particularly mindful
of
the needs of those who are most vulnerable,
in this case, our own children. May God bless this critical work of our
hearts and hands in the months and years
ahead.