Sex abuse policy set for review

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard told The Evangelist that he decided to form the panel "in light of the questions that have been raised" in the wake of news reports of sexual abuse scandals in Boston. The Albany Diocese is one of several across the country reevaluating its procedures.

"While we feel the policy has been appropriate and effective," the Bishop said, "public confidence in it is of the utmost importance. We are open to a review of it by an outside panel to see if the policy is correct as is or should be changed."

The six-member task force will undertake a comprehensive review of the issue in its legal, psychological, pastoral, canonical and theological dimensions, with in-service training provided by recognized authorities in each of those areas.

The members of the new task force, which will make recommendations to Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, are:

* Richard J. Bartlett, former New York assemblyman, chair of the New York State Penal Law Revision Commission, chief administrator of the State's court system and dean of Albany Law School; he is now in private legal practice in Glens Falls.

* John Dunne, former deputy majority leader of the New York State Senate, chairman of the Senate's Judiciary Committee and assistant attorney general for civil rights in the US. Department of Justice; he is now in private legal practice in Albany.

* Sister Mary Ann Hayes, CSJ, a canon lawyer and judge on the diocesan Tribunal.

* Susan D. Phillips, Ph.D., interim dean, School of Education, State University of New York at Albany; department chair, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, State University of New York at Albany; registered/licensed psychologist, State of New York (1981).

* Arlene Reed-Delaney, supervising psychiatrist for the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance; president of the Capital District Council on Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; member of Appeals Board of New York State Department of Corrections; and former member of New York State Board of Regents.

* Leonard A. Weiss, former presiding justice of the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court and currently a member of the State Public Service Commission.

The current policies of the Albany Diocese in cases of sexual abuse were formulated and published in 1993. They provide for outreach to victims and their families, immediate removal of a priest from priestly functions, and cooperation with public officials in investigations.

In each case, victims are reminded of their right to report allegations to civil and criminal authorities; in cases where families choose to resolve the matter out of court in order to protect the victim's privacy, the Diocese honors that option. Nearly all the cases when the allegations have been brought to the Diocese have referred to incidents which happened 20 or 30 years earlier.

Since the Diocese's policies went into effect in 1993, there has been one substantiated case of sexual abuse of a minor by a diocesan priest.

Over the past 25 years, nine priests of the 450 who worked for the Diocese were found to be involved in sexual abuse of minors, a figure representing two percent of the clergy. Of the nine priests, most were removed from ministry; the few who remain are in a restricted form of ministry and are closely monitored to prevent them from unsupervised access to minors. They were allowed to return to ministry only after an extended period of rehabilitative therapy and after being evaluated by a panel of psychologists independent of the Diocese and being pronounced fit for ministry.

(Editor's note: The current policy was printed in The Evangelist's Feb. 28 issue; it can also be found on the diocesan website: www.rcda.org. Click on "departments" and then on "administrative advocate.")

(03-07-02) [[In-content Ad]]