National Review Board issues Five-year Report on Church Handling of clergy sex abuse of Minors. Frank Douglas comments.

From PRNewswire-USNewswire, 12.13.2007.





My comments are in red. [brackets]



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National Review Board Issues Five-Year Report on Church Handling of Clergy Sex Abuse of Minors



WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The National Review
Board (NRB), a lay body appointed by the president of the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to review the church’s handling of
the sexual abuse of minors by clerics, cited accomplishments and challenges
in a five-year report made public December 13.

Judge Michael R. Merz, NRB chair, commended church efforts to date, but
said the problem is complex.


[You can be sure that if Judge Merz didn’t commend the bishops’ effort to date, the bishops would replace him in a New York minute.]


“Church efforts for prevention, healing, and vigilance will be demanded
for the rest of our days,” Judge Merz said. “The price of this crime is
steep both in the pain felt by victims and the shadow cast on the
reputation of innocent Catholic priests. Most priests never have abused a
child or even someone’s trust in them, but they bear shame by association.
It’s not right, but that’s the fact.”


“Bishops have taken a strong approach to dealing with this crisis,”
Judge Merz said. “Sexual abuse of children is not a problem in the church
alone, but bishops as moral leaders must stand in the forefront of
protecting children. The NRB is proud to collaborate with the bishops in
the protection of children and young people.”


[The judge repeats the bishops’ sickening argument that “everybody does it.”


It is patently untrue that the bishops have taken a strong approach. The vast majority of them have not published the names of perpetrators and those credibly accused on diocesan websites. The vast majority have not visited parishes where abuse has taken place. The bishops have made no attempt to bring religious orders (Jesuits, Dominicans, Salesians, etc.) under the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, inadequate though it may be.]


The report is addressed to the U.S. Catholic faithful and is “a record
of accomplishments, unfinished work, and challenges that lie ahead,” it
said. The report praised the USCCB audit process by which “dioceses and
eparchies have been audited to assure the implementation and maintenance of
the standards established” in the Charter for the Protection of Children
and Young People, which the bishops created in 2002.

“Those audits provide substantial evidence of the bishops’ efforts to
protect children and respond to the abuses of the past and present. As of
2006, 98 percent of the dioceses and eparchies are participating in the
audits. Those audited are in full compliance with the standards” set for
the audits, the report said.



[The audits are a sham. They are managed and controlled by the bishops. If the bishops were really serious about protecting children, they would allow audits by an independent agency. The audits are a tool of the bishops to continue the cover up.]


The report also noted that “over six million children have participated
in educational programs and over 1.6 million background investigations have
taken place” as part of diocesan safe environment programs.


[The focus should not be on children, but on priests, bishops, and seminarians. Why have we heard nothing from the NRB about sexually active priests and bishops? Why have we heard nothing about what is being done in seminaries, particularly in the “purple palaces” where many have reported overt and extensive sexual activity taking place among seminarians with participation by some seminary faculty?]


However, the NRB urged an expansion of the audits to measure “the
quality of the work that the dioceses and parishes are doing.”

“The Board is encouraging the USCCB to do random audits of the parishes
and to work toward establishing best practices in educational programs,
victim care, background checks, and investigation of allegations,” the
report said. “During 2007, to provide a model to study for the future, a
number of dioceses volunteered to pilot audits at the parish level. The NRB
fully supports and encourages these parish audits.”

The report cited six challenges which the Board said “are not easily
resolved since they involve extremely complex issues.”

“One of the most significant issues is the need for a greater
understanding of victimization and its consequences. Discussions with
victims provide evidence of serious needs that still must be addressed in
order for the victims and their families to find the healing that they
need,” the report said.

“Another set of issues relates to the relationship of the Church to its
priests, the vast majority of whom are not involved in the scandal, but
many of whom feel alienated from both the bishops and the laity.” In
addition, “there is a particular need to provide appropriate protection and
restoration for those accused but later found innocent.”


[Is it really true that the vast majority of them were not involved in the scandal? How many priests knew of brother priests who spent inordinate time with young boys? How many knew of brother priests who habitually brought young boys to their rooms in the rectory?]




The board called for “greater speed in the process of determining
credibility of allegations and consequent responses, as well as
determination of an appropriate role for the Church in the supervision of
offenders.”



[Offenders are criminals. Why is there no mention here of the proper and appropriate involvement of the police and other appropriate law enforcement agencies?]



It also noted that parishes “also become victims of sexual abuse.
Members of parishes experience both a sense of betrayal or outrage over
accusations that lead to the removal of a pastor or associate. Often
parishioners do not know how to respond to victims and their families and
agonize over the lengthy process of determining appropriate responses. This
is an area that needs much more attention.”


[The outrage and sense of betrayal should be over the criminal acts of the perpetrators, not removal of the perpetrator from a parish.]



The NRB also cited the need to keep church members better informed on
the positive responses the Bishops have made and more active observers of
the programs and processes in their parishes and dioceses.

“Such communication is vitally important since the work of the National
Review Board is strengthened by vigilant parents and parishioners who
investigate the presence and quality of the programs in their parishes and
dioceses,” the report said. “The obligation to provide safe environments
that prevent damage to children, young people, families, parishes,
dioceses, and the Church rests with all Catholics.”


[The obligation to provide safe environments will rest with all Catholics when all Catholics have access to information about allegations of sexual abuse against priests, bishops, and seminarians. Currently only bishops have such access. Thus in the secrecy-obsessed culture of the hierarchy the obligation rests only with the bishops. Experience has shown that the bishops, their counterparts in the religious orders (the religious superiors; the provincials) AND THE POPE CANNOT BE TRUSTED.]

The full report can be found on the Web at
http://www.usccb.org/nrb/nrbreport2007.pdf.


SOURCE U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops