Problems Implementing the Bishops' Charter

The June meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops produced the landmark Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in response to the sexual abuse crisis that has scandalized the American Catholic Church. The charter outlines steps the Church must take to effectively respond to the crisis, restore the laity's trust, and ensure that such abuse doesn't occur in the future. Two months have passed since the bishops overwhelmingly adopted the charter's broad new policies by a vote of 239 to 13. Now back in their respective dioceses, how have the bishops begun executing the policies? To borrow from a familiar maxim, performance is the only test, or more popularly stated: the proof is in the pudding.

In late July and early August, the New York Times (Laurie Goodstein and Sam Dillon, "Bishops Proceed Cautiously in Carrying Out Abuse Policy," New York Times, 18 August 2002) surveyed 194 dioceses to assess the bishops' compliance with the Dallas charter. Of the 177 Roman Catholic and 17 Eastern Rite dioceses contacted, 119 responded; 18 of those declined to answer some of the questions.

In their charter, the bishops agreed to:

• Remove permanently from ministry any priest who committed even one abusive act against a child. (Article 5)

• Conduct background checks on all Church employees who work with children. (Article 13)

• Appoint special ministers to help abuse victims as well as lay review boards to assess accusations against priests. (Article 9)

• Report every abuse allegation made against priests to government authorities. (Article 4)

Despite the consensus reached at the June conference, the survey results clearly indicate that the bishops still have trouble with certain aspects of the charter. In the Times' survey Church officials were asked to review their compliance with each of the aforementioned commitments. Although quickly drafted on paper, the actual implementation appears to be slow. According to the survey's results:

• Although 31 bishops have said that they swiftly removed or suspended 114 priests, others have not acted because they said they needed time to rework church panels to review abuse cases. Other bishops are waiting to see if the Vatican will accept the policies detailed in the charter. In some instances, bishops have found reasons to allow priests with histories of sexual misconduct to work quietly for the Church. In only a handful of cases have the bishops asked the Vatican to permanently remove (laicize) a cleric from the priesthood. The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has compiled a list of dioceses that are not in compliance with the Dallas charter.

• Of the dioceses surveyed, 55 had not yet appointed a coordinator to offer pastoral care to victims of sexual abuse. Although at least 7 in 10 dioceses had sexual abuse review boards prior to Dallas, in many cases the boards were composed entirely of clergy members and archdiocesan employees (counter to the charter's stipulation that the majority of the board members be laypeople). Many dioceses are now expanding boards to include a variety of laypeople.

• In response to the charter's call for every diocese to establish "safe environment" programs to train clergy and laypeople about ways to prevent sexual abuse, the survey found that 62 dioceses had such programs in place or planned to create them; 43 said that they did not have these programs. One widely used program Protecting God's Children produced by the National Catholic Risk Retention Group (CRRG), a Catholic insurance company, can cost a diocese $30,000 the first year, and half that in successive years. According to the New York Times' article, CRRG's director, Jack McCalmon, said that "17 dioceses were already using the program, 18 were expected to sign on soon, and 74 more had expressed serious interest - a third of those in the weeks since the Dallas meeting."

• Since the conference, 14 dioceses have reported accusations of priestly sexual abuse to the civil authorities. The increase in information reported to government officials has sparked "aggressive action by criminal prosecutors across the nation."

The Dallas meeting and its resulting Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People have set the stage for dramatic change in how the American Catholic Church responds to child sexual abuse past, present, and future. Yet the true test of the charter's effectiveness will be in the bishops' execution of its policies. Last June, they showed strong solidarity in their support of the Dallas charter; however, actions since the conference call for a balance of realistic skepticism, constant vigilance, and cautious optimism on the part of the laity.