Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
“Charter” Compliance Independent audit finds most U.S. dioceses comply with sex abuse norms By Jerry Filteau Catholic News Service
(CNS PHOTO BY NANCY WIECHEC)
Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, responds to questions about results of a national audit of diocesan policies and practices mandated by the bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” Bishop Gregory, seated with independent review board member William Burleigh, gave the briefing in Washington Jan. 6.
WASHINGTON — By the end of 2003, nearly 90 percent of U.S. Catholic dioceses were in compliance with the bishops’ national policy to protect children and respond to clergy sexual abuse of minors, according to the first national audit report released Jan. 6. The audits of 191 U.S. dioceses were conducted by the Boston-based Gavin Group, composed chiefly of former FBI agents, between June and November 2003. Teams of auditors spent a week in each diocese reviewing documentation and conducting internal and external interviews. On most elements the report said 98 percent to 100 percent of the audited dioceses were judged to be in compliance with the 17 articles of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” adopted by the bishops in June 2002. There were only two mandates on which compliance was lower than 98 percent: having comprehensive safe environment programs in place 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. “The audit represents solid progress on the journey toward fulfilling the vision set out by the charter,” Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said at a Jan 6. press conference on the report’s release. He said the report itself will now become a “a source of learning about how to build on what we are already doing well and about what more we need to do in order to protect children and young people.” In a written introduction to the report Bishop Gregory said it “contains NATIONAL AUDIT, page 8
Archdiocesan compliance audit called “very thorough” By Catholic San Francisco Staff Presentation Sister Antonio Heaphy, head of the department of pastoral ministry for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, describes the examination by independent auditors of Archdiocesan compliance with the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” as “very thorough.” Sister Antonio was one of a score of people in the Archdiocese who were part of internal and external interviews conducted by a team of professionals from the Gavin Group of Boston, which had been commissioned to do an audit of compliance by U.S. Catholic dioceses with the Charter adopted by U.S. Bishops in June 2002. Audit results for 191 U.S. Catholic dioceses were released Jan. 6 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops through its Office of Child and Youth Protection. The
Archdiocese of San Francisco was found to be in compliance with the Charter when it was audited last July. The Archdiocese received no instructions or recommendations to take remedial action. Instead, auditors commended the Archdiocese for significant strides in outreach to victims. Sister Antonio said auditors interviewed “anyone involved” in compliance with the Charter, including church officials and staff involved in outreach to victims, priest personnel issues and archdiocesan offices ranging from communications to legal. Auditors also interviewed sexual abuse victims, members of the Archdiocesan independent review board and others. “The audit team had free access to any information dealing with sexual abuse,” Sister said. “They could ask for anything they wanted. It was very thorough.” “The auditors wanted to know how meetings with vic-
tims went and whether we thought they made any difference,” she said. A group of diocesan officials has been meeting with victim/survivors since before the Charter was established. “In the beginning it was ‘us’ and ‘them’,” she said. “It ended up being us.” Sister Antonio said the “most important thing the Church can do is to help victims realize that the Church does care about them and wants their healing.” One of the important forms of cooperation with victims was the planning of an apology ceremony last June. Members of a victims/survivor group called “No More Secrets” helped plan the format of the ceremony and gave it its name, “Circle of Healing.” “The name was important,” Sister said, “because we COMPLIANCE, page 8
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Plight of children . . . . . . . . 3 Becoming a deacon. . . . . . . 7
Seventh Archbishop of San Francisco Vocations Section
~ Pages 14-15 ~
Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Clergy appointments . . . . 17 Pope on paths to peace. . . 20
~ Pages 9-11 ~ January 9, 2004
Editorial and letters . . . . . 12
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