Bishop Mark ready to lead USCCB’s Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People

Three-year term as chairperson begins at the end of the bishops' meetings this month in Baltimore

Bishop Mark O'Connell will become the chairperson of the USCCB's Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People at the end of the bishops' fall meeting in Baltimore later this month. (Dino Petrocelli photo) (Courtesy photo of dino petrocelli.camera 2 152021005044)

When the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops meet later this month in Baltimore, Bishop Mark O’Connell will officially become the chairperson of the USCCB’s Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People.

Bishop Mark was named chairman-elect at last year’s plenary assembly and will officially take over for Bishop Barry C. Knestout on Nov. 19. His term will run for three years. 

“I’ve been on the Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People (CPCYP) for five years. It is a committee in which every region of the country has a representative and I was the representative of the New England region,” Bishop Mark said. “When I moved to Albany, I was going to be off of it because I’m not the representative from this region, but I was elected by the body of the U.S. bishops to be the incoming chairperson. So this year I was the chairman-elect while Bishop Barry Knestout finished his time.”

Bishop Mark will have four additional meetings, two of which are in Washington, D.C., throughout the year, and will attend certain child protection conferences as the USCCB representative. Being a chairperson for a USCCB committee also puts him on the administrative committee as well. He will also be in close communication and have joint meetings with the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People which was created in 2002 by the USCCB to monitor the implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in the wake of the clerical abuse scandal. 

“One of the most important things is the relationship with the National Review Board, which is the review board that advises the bishops on child protection and it oversees the audits of all the dioceses,” said Bishop Mark, who added that the committee has just finished another revision of the charter.

Two big events that are happening next year are the 25th anniversary of the charter and the planned opening of a National Healing Garden which will be on the grounds of The Catholic University of America in Washington.  

As for goals, Bishop Mark said they are “less specific and more broad.”

“I happen to have a lot of experience. I was a canon lawyer at the beginning of the crisis in Boston. I was part of the whole response to the crisis in Boston, especially under Cardinal Sean O’Malley,” he added. “And here I’ve led a settlement with the victim-survivors of sexual abuse. I have a lot of experience and a lot of contact with victim-survivors over the years. I hope that I can use that experience to make meaningful statements and help lead meaningful change for the U.S. bishops.”