New York, 27 feb 2004 -17:22
A Report on the Crisis in the Catholic Church in the United States.
February 27, 2004
The National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People
Established by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
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The Honorable Anne Burke
Interim Board Chair
Dr. Michael Bland
Nicholas P. Cafardi
Dr. Alice Bourke Hayes
The Honorable Petra Jimenez Maes
The Honorable Leon Panetta Robert S. Bennett
Research Committe Chair
William Burleigh
Jane Chiles
Pamela Hayes
Dr. Paul McHugh
Ray Siegfried II
Copyright © 2004, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright holder.
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I. INTRODUCTION
II. SUMMARY
III. BACKGROUND
A. The National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People
1.The Membership of the Review Board and Its Mission
2.The Purpose and Scope of This Report
3.The Methodology Employed by the Review Board
B. Overview of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests
C. The John Jay College Study
1.Summary of Survey Data
2.Data Relating to Accused Priests
3.Data Relating to Victims
4.Data Relating to Types of Reported Abuse
5.Data Relating to Responses to Allegations of Abuse
6.Data Relating to Time Period of the Reported Abuse
D. Prior Efforts to Address the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests
E. Manifestation of the Problem in the Boston Archdiocese
F. The Response of the Vatican to the Problem
G. The Charter and the Essential Norms
1.The Articles of the Charter
2.The Essential Norms
H. Post-Charter Developments
IV. FINDINGS
A. The Presence in the Priesthood of Persons Who Have Sexually Abused Minors
1.Issues Relating to the Selection of Canidates for the Priesthood
2.Issues Relating to the Formation of Canidates for the Priesthood
3.Special Issues Relating to Sexual Orientation
4.Special Issues Relating to Celibacy
5.Issues relating to Spiritual Life
B. The Response of U.S. Church Officials to Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests
1.Understanding the Nature and Scope of the Abuse and the Harm it Caused
2.Responding to Victims
3.Presumptions in Favor of Accused Priests
a. The Presumed Right to Ministry
b. The Process of Laicization Under the Code of Canon Law
c. Clericalism
d. Forgiveness Without Condemnation
4.Secrecy and the Avoidance of Scandal
5.Dependence on the Therapeutic Model
6.Reliance on Attorneys
7.Considerations Relating to Religious Orders
8.Episcopal Accountability
a. The Selection and Assignment of Bishops
b. Diocesan and Presbyteral Councils
c. The Roles of the Metropolitan and the Conference
d. Fraternal Correction
V. RECOMMENDATIONS
A. Further Study and Analysis
B. Enhanced Screening, Formation and Oversight
C. Increased Sensitivity and Effectiveness in Responding to Allegations of Abuse
D. Greater Accountability of Bishops and Other Church Leaders
E. Improved Interaction with Civil Authorities
F. Meaningful Participation by the Christian Faithful in theChurch
CODA
Appendix
I. INTRODUCTION
The National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People (the "Review Board" or "Board"), composed of lay Catholics and chartered by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (the "Conference" or "USCCB"), issues this Report as part of its mandate to evaluate the "causes and context" of the crisis that has beset the Catholic Church in the United States as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by some members of the Catholic clergy and the inadequate response of bishops and other Church leaders to that abuse.
The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (the "Charter"), which the Conference adopted in June 2002, created the Review Board and directed it to "commission a comprehensive study of the causes and context of the current crisis." In response, the Board, acting through its Research Committee, has interviewed more than eighty-five individuals in sixty separate interviews, including: cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and other Church leaders in the United States and the Vatican; priests, former priests, seminarians, and theologians; victims of clergy abuse; psychiatrists, psychologists, and other medical professionals; civil lawyers, canon lawyers, and law enforcement officials; and other knowledgeable lay people. Further, the Board has consulted numerous articles and studies written or conducted by experts in pertinent fields, as well as various public records relating to reported cases of abuse. In addition, the Board commissioned a study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York to develop empirical data on the nature and scope of the problem that precipitated the crisis.
The purpose of the Report is to share the Review Board's findings and recommendations based upon its evaluation of the current crisis. Those findings seek to describe the problem and to address two fundamental questions posed by it. First, why did individuals with a disposition to prey sexually upon minors gain admission to the priesthood? Second, how did they manage to remain in the priesthood even after allegations and evidence of such abuse became known to their bishops and other Church leaders?
Concerning the first of these questions, the Report provides the Review Board's findings with respect to the process of selecting and then forming candidates for the priesthood, with special attention to issues relating to sexual orientation, celibacy, and spiritual life. Concerning the second of these questions, the Report provides the Board's findings with respect to a number of shortcomings on the part of some bishops and Church officials, including: (i) a failure to grasp the gravity of the problem of sexual abuse of minors by priests; (ii) deficiencies in the response to victims; (iii) unwarranted presumptions in favor of accused priests; (iv) reliance on secrecy and an undue emphasis on the avoidance of scandal; (v) excessive reliance on the therapeutic model in dealing with priest offenders; (vi) undue reliance upon legal advice that placed a premium on adversarial defense tactics at the expense of concern for victims of abuse; and (vii) a failure to hold themselves and other bishops accountable for mistakes, including a failure to make use of lay consultative bodies and other governance structures.
This Report also offers the Review Board's recommendations based on those findings. These include recommendations for enhanced screening, formation, and oversight of candidates for the priesthood; for increased sensitivity in responding to allegations of abuse; for greater accountability of bishops and Church leaders; for improved interaction with civil authorities; and for greater participation by the laity in the life of the Church.
The Review Board is pleased that the bishops asked a group of lay Catholics to address these important issues. The Board also appreciates the nearly uniform cooperation it received from the bishops and other Church leaders, without which this Report would not have been possible. We join Pope John Paul II in earnest prayer that from this "pain" and "sorrow" might emerge "a holier priesthood, a holier episcopate, and a holier Church."
1. Of particular note, Bishop Wilton Gregory of the Diocese of Belleville (Illinois), the current President of the Conference, has offered unflagging support to the Board and its work.
II. SUMMARY
The Review Board believes that the overwhelming majority of priests serving the Church in the United States fulfill their roles honorably and chastely. According to Church records, however, there were credible allegations that several thousand priests, comprising four percent of priests in ministry over the last half-century, committed acts of sexual abuse of minors. There appears to have been a significant surge in acts of abuse beginning in the 1960s and continuing into the mid-1980s. The fallout resulting from this epidemic of abuse and the shortcomings in the response of a number of bishops and other Church leaders to that misconduct continues to this day.
The crime of sexual abuse of minors is not a problem unique to the Catholic clergy. As Pope John Paul II stated prior to the adoption of the Charter, "Abuse of the young is a grave symptom of a crisis affecting not only the Church but society as a whole." (April 23, 2002 Address of Pope John Paul II to the United States Cardinals.) Indeed, it is a contemporary societal problem that affects numerous families and many secular organizations as well as other churches and ecclesial communities. Although some evidence suggests that the abuse epidemic afflicted many institutions and organizations in our country, it is beyond the Board's mission to determine whether the problem was more pervasive among Catholic clergy than it was in other sectors of society or in the general population. Reliable statistical evidence of the sexual abuse of minors is particularly difficult to obtain because, according to experts, many if not most acts of abuse occur within families and often are not reported.
Nevertheless, the number of incidents of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy, at least ...
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