Symposium at Siena addresses abuse crisis

On March 29, several hundred people attended a day-long symposium at Siena College in Loudonville titled "Trusting the Clergy? The Church and Communities Come to Grips with Sexual Misconduct."

The symposium was co-sponsored by Siena's Department of Religious Studies, Department of Social Work and Office of the Chaplain; the Diocese of Albany; the Capital Area Council of Churches; and the Capital Region Ecumenical Organization.

Three major addresses were given by:

* Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis, a native of Schenectady who played a key role in the development of the U.S. bishops' "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," adopted last year;

* Rev. Donald Cozzens, professor of religious studies at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, and author of "Sacred Silence: Denial and the Crisis in the Church"; and

* Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of the Albany Diocese.

Responding to the talks were several panelists, representing different faiths and denominations as well as expertise:

Dr. Michael Bland, a survivor of clergy sexual abuse who is coordinator of the Office of Victim Assistance Ministry for the Archdiocese of Chicago;

Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune, a United Church of Christ minister who founded the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence in Seattle, Wash.;

Dr. Carolyn Newberger, assistant clinical professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School;

Ladan Alomar, executive director of Centro Civico of Amsterdam;

Dr. Robert Miller, assistant professor of Social Welfare at the University at Albany; and

Anne Pope, president of the Albany branch of the NAACP and director of the New York African American Research Foundation.

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