Column
by
Archbishop John G. Vlazny
|
Archbishop's
Column by Archbishop John G. Vlazny |
Church acknowledges mistakes; plans
to make things right
3/21/03
At last fall’s meeting of the American
bishops, we approved a revised text
of our “Charter for the Protection of
Children and Young People,” which
had been prepared in the spring as an
immediate response to the escalating
child sexual abuse scandal in the church.
A number of inquiries have come
my way about our archdiocesan compliance
with that charter. Even though we
have faced a significant challenge in
dealing with multiple claims of
plaintiffs about such alleged abuse in
the past, we are making headway
here in our efforts to fulfill the commitment
made by all the bishops.
First and foremost, you all need to know
that all of us in archdiocesan
leadership are fully committed to the
protection of children and young
people and also to the prompt removal
of offenders from their ministerial
duties. The Holy Father himself in his
address to the cardinals of the
United States last spring said, “There
is no place in the priesthood or
religious life for those who would harm
the young.” He went on to say that
he was “deeply grieved by the fact that
a priest or religious, whose
vocation it is to help people live holy
lives in the sight of God, have
themselves caused such suffering and scandal
to the young. Because of the
great harm done by some priests and religious,
the Church itself is viewed
with distrust, and many are offended at
the way in which the Church’s
leaders are perceived to have acted in
this matter. The abuse that has
caused this crisis is by every standard
wrong and rightly considered a
crime by society; it is also an appalling
sin in the eyes of God. To the
victims and their families, wherever they
may be, I express my profound
sense of solidarity and concern.”
It is the Holy Father’s closing words that
can never be reiterated enough.
My heart goes out to all victims who have
suffered such abuse. I cannot
imagine what it might have been like to
have endured this pain and
confusion. Although I regret all that
has happened in the past, I welcome
the challenge to lead our church and influence
our society in doing all we
can to see to it that both the abuse and
the inadequate response of the
church and society to these crimes will
never occur again.
In the charter, we bishops promise to promote
healing and reconciliation
with victims and survivors of sexual abuse
of minors. My representatives
and I have faithfully offered pastoral
outreach to the victims and their
families who sought our assistance. We
have tried to deal sensitively and
compassionately with those who approached
us through civil litigation.
Many have requested that here in the archdiocese
support groups be made
available for victims and survivors and
others affected by abuse. Our
efforts to provide this service are under
way.
Our archdiocesan child abuse policy is
in place, with some revisions to
comply with the charter. We are now equipped
to respond promptly to any
allegation when there is reason to believe
that sexual abuse of a minor
has occurred. We had to withdraw our “hotline”
telephone because civil
authorities felt it would be an inappropriate
interference in something
they saw as their responsibility. The
state of Oregon, of course, requires
our priests to report to the civil authorities
allegations of abuse that
are brought to their attention. We comply
fully and gladly with these
requirements. An archdiocesan review board,
comprising our vicar general
and seven lay persons, is now in place;
it serves as a confidential
consultative body to me in assessing allegations
of abuse and making a
determination about the suitability of
those accused for ministry.
With the bishops of the Northwest, I am
in the process of establishing
procedures to assure due process in all
cases of priests or deacons
accused of sexual abuse of minors. Recently
210 priest–canon lawyers from
across our nation received training in
procedures that will help us
conduct our own church penal processes
that will be part of the means of
ensuring safety for our young people,
justice for victims and clear and
due process for those who are accused.
Nationally the bishops have established
an Office for Child and Youth
Protection at our conference headquarters
in Washington, D.C. Kathleen
McChesney, formerly of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation office here in
Portland, is its director. At the same
time, here in the Archdiocese of
Portland, we have assigned Cathy Shannon
of my staff to serve as the Child
Protection Officer of the archdiocese.
Both will be concerned with helping
establish “safe environment” programs
and assisting the church fulfill its
obligation to all victims for healing
and reconciliation. The national
office will also assist the bishops in
the development of appropriate
mechanisms to audit adherence to diocesan
child abuse policies and to
produce an annual public report on the
progress being made in implementing
the charter.
All of us in archdiocesan leadership, our
pastors and institutional
leaders, are fully committed to vigilance
and prevention as we look to the
future and reconciliation and healing
in dealing with the past. The church
bears a heavy burden of responsibility
in these matters, but the church
cannot be alone in working to accomplish
all that must be done. A
parishioner complained about my observation
that the claims of abuse now
in mediation come from a period of time
some 20 to 60 years ago. She felt
that I was thereby minimizing the problem.
For me it is a matter of
perspective. For the past 15 years the
Catholic community has been
addressing this problem in a straightforward,
compassionate and
responsible fashion. Others have not.
Yet we are treated as if we are the
only ones ever guilty of sin. Child sexual
abuse is a societal problem,
one that, unfortunately, includes our
church.
Complaints from Catholics all over western
Oregon continue to reflect
anger, hostility and dissatisfaction.
My leadership in these matters has
been questioned. I claim no expertise,
but I can assure you that I really
want to do what is right for both the
victims and the church. In no way do
I want to hurt those who have suffered
so much, nor do I want to be so
foolhardy as to abandon my responsibility
to keep the church on track in
its work of carrying out the mission of
Jesus Christ in today’s world.
Lent is a time for prayer, fasting and
good works. I ask for your prayers
and support of the Church’s good works
during these troubled times.
Innocent victims and their families have
suffered greatly. The Church
acknowledges past mistakes and is sincerely
moving forward to make things
right. We will be effective in extending
the protection of all children to
the larger civic community only when we
approach these matters in
solidarity, with mutual respect and true
compassion for all who have
suffered so much. May God bless these
initiatives of our Catholic
community.