Archbishop outlines history of scandal

A keynote on the history of the Church's response to clergy sexual abuse was among the talks at the symposium on "Trusting the Clergy" held at Siena College March 29.

The address was given by Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Archdiocese. He is a native of the Albany Diocese and a Siena alumnus.

Five keys

The archbishop explained that he first dealt with the issue of sexual abuse as coadjutor bishop in the Diocese of LaFayette, La., the first diocese to draw national attention to the problem.

That sparked the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to begin addressing the crisis on the national level in 1992, coming up with five "working points" that would eventually lead to their "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People":

* "Respond promptly to all allegations of abuse where there is reasonable belief that abuse has occurred;

* "if such an allegation is supported by sufficient evidence, relieve the alleged offender promptly of his ministerial duties, and refer him for appropriate medical evaluation and intervention;

* "comply with the obligations of civil law as regards reporting of the incident and cooperating with the investigation;

* "reach out to the victims and their families, and communicate sincere commitment to their spiritual and emotional well-being;

* within the confines of respect for privacy of the individuals involved, deal as openly as possible with the members of the community."

Years of effort

Archbishop Flynn continued his timeline of events by noting the 1993 establishment of the U.S. bishops' ad hoc committee on sexual abuse, which addressed the problem through moves like changing diocesan policies and meeting with victims. He said this resulted in a decline in the number of new abuse cases in the late '90s.

The archbishop defended the Church against critics who say that bishops shuffled abusive priests from parish to parish during this time, calling it "not an accurate or fair characterization of the bishops' actions of the last decade."

He said bishops had learned that "some [priest-abusers] have psycho-sexual maladies that can be controlled but never cured. No bishop thinks today that a change of assignment could adequately address their illness."

Media

Archbishop Flynn criticized the media for "forgetting" the work of the ad hoc committee on sexual abuse and creating "a largely distorted impression" of how the problem was being handled.

In fact, he said, bishops "met with victims, removed priests and made the required reports to civil authorities."

"Was every case handled as well as it could have been and was every diocese at the same level of response? Clearly not," he added, noting that some bishops thought Catholics would want priests who had abused to remain in ministry "if they had been treated, their abuse now seemed firmly in the past, and they were offering effective service."

Dallas meeting

By the time the U.S. bishops met in Dallas last June to respond again to the abuse crisis, Archbishop Flynn said, they were building on a "foundation of policies and pastoral outreach already in existence," from background checks on employees to outreach to victims.

In Dallas, he said, the bishops created national standards for dealing with abuse. However, he noted that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is not a governing body and can't make decisions binding on all bishops.

Instead, the bishops submitted their proposals to the Vatican, which asked for revisions and eventually approved the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" -- a document Archbishop Flynn said is "intended to maximize the response" of dioceses to dealing with sexual abuse.

Nationwide effort

The archbishop outlined other steps taken at the Dallas meeting, including establishing a national Office for Child and Youth Protection and deciding not to return any abuser to ministry.

The Church is not allowed to simply dismiss priests, Archbishop Flynn noted; but it had in the past sent those who abused older minors (known as "ephebophiles," not pedophiles) to treatment and assigned them to jobs that didn't involve contact with children.

However, he said, the bishops at the Dallas meeting "heeded a message" from Catholics that they did not wish any priests, even those successfully treated and monitored, to return to ministry after an incident of abuse.

Abusive clergy

The Church also struggled with how to deal with abusive priests who had not asked to be laicized (released from their vows) and still had to be provided for by the Church. One recent development in the abuse crisis, according to the

archbishop, is the Church's being accused of ignoring priests' rights.

"This is simplistic to the point of being false," he argued, saying that the bishops have heard "horrendous" stories from victims and simply want "to assure them that everything is being done that no other children will suffer such violation."

Archbishop Flynn said he felt sympathy for the majority of priests, who "suffer on account of those who have done abominable things;" and for Catholics who can't believe that "the man who visited their father faithfully in the hospital, brought Holy Communion to their grandmother on First Friday and baptized their children could be the same man who committed the horrible violations they read about in the newspapers."

Eclipse

He also expressed sadness that priest-abusers "used their unique vocation to satisfy their compulsions upon the most innocent among us," adding: "The Church, which has never shirked from gathering the wounded stranger in her arm, cannot shirk from gathering the children wounded by here very own ministers."

Archbishop Flynn called the abuse crisis "a partial eclipse of the sun." A bishop's primary work now, he said, must be to make the Church a safe environment.

He said: "We must allow the Sun of Justice, rising in our hearts with His healing rays, to inspire in us a commitment to relief for victims, protection for children, holiness and integrity in the life of priests, and courage and compassion in actions of bishops."

(4/3/2003) [[In-content Ad]]