Module B – Church and Seminary Responses to Sexual Abuse - PowerPoint Presentation

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Module B – Church and Seminary Responses to Sexual AbusePrimarily for Seminaries and Also Parts for Parishes and Dioceses

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Church and Seminary Responses

to Sexual Abuse of Minors by

Catholic Priests in the United States

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Main Sources of DataReports presented to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops by the John Jay College Research Team, The City University of New

York*

The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010, March, 2011The Nature and Scope of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States, 1950-2002, February 2004

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*

The

two reports are based on data supplied by 97 percent of

U.S. archdioceses

and dioceses on all clergy accused of sexual

abuse

of minorsSlide4

Church

Directives on Formation for Celibacy and

Sexuality, 1

Pope John Paul II’s

Pastores

dabo vobis, 1992

I

ntroduced

for the first time a section on human formation (#43), insisting that “the whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation” On contemporary misunderstandings about love and sex, he said, “In such a context, an education for sexuality becomes more difficult but also more urgent” for those who are called to celibacy (#44)

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Church Directives on Formation for Celibacy and Sexuality, 2

The Program of Priestly Formation

Guided seminaries on every aspect of preparing future priests and was issued five times by American bishops between 1971 and 2005Gradual change in the presentation of celibacy and sexuality occurred from 1971 to the present; most notably, the first three editions gave little space or weight to the topics, while the last two considerably expanded the content

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Church and Seminary ResponsesU

ntil

1992 church documents generally did not reflect the necessity of revising seminary formation to deal with reports of abusive sexual behavior by priestsNonetheless, seminaries recognized the need for change and began to

modify

formation programs substantially by

the late

1980sB-

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Involvement of SeminariesPriests with allegations of sexual abuse against minors were enrolled in much

higher proportions in some seminaries

than othersContrary to widespread opinion, those who attended high school seminaries were not more likely to abuse than those who did not

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Phases of Reports and Responses

Phase 1 – 1940s to Mid-1970s

Early reports of a few incidents; clergy sexual abuse considered an anomaly; little response

Phase 2 – Mid-1970s to 1985

S

till limited reports of incidents; little official response; seminaries developed some programmatic elements on celibacy and sexuality

Phase

3

– 1985 to 2002

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ore reports of clergy sexual misconduct came to light, with some response by bishops, more response by seminaries

Phase 4 – After 2002 Revelations

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utpouring of reports of clergy sexual abuse resulted in extensive

response by both church

officials and seminaries

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Phase 1 – 1940s to Mid-1970s

Church Response

C

lergy

sexual misconduct considered an

anomaly

K

nown reports

of

incidents are rare, not publically revealed

1

st

PPF

issued in 1971

has only minor content on celibacy, none on sexuality

F

ocus in the

PPF

was on ministry

Seminary Response

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nformation

about programs available mainly in histories of seminariesReports of human or personal formation rarely mentioned in historiesVery limited instruction on celibacy, sexuality, and related topics reported by priests of that era

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Phase

2

–

Mid-1970s to 1985

Church

Response

L

imited number of abuse cases were known or made

public

2

nd

PPF

(1976) added only one new paragraph on the topic of celibacy and sexuality

3

rd

PPF

(1981) added several new paragraphs

emphasizing the obligatory nature of celibacy

Seminary Response

S

eminaries

gradually developed more program content on celibacy, sexuality, and related topics

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ontent

added and reported in seminary catalogs on both personal and spiritual topics related to celibacy and sexualityUsually referred to content as personal formation

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Phase 3 – 1985 to 2002

Church Response

Pope John Paul II issued

Pastores

dabo

vobis

, calling for significant change in formation for priestsApostolic visitation of seminaries called for in 1981 and carried out by American bishops from 1983 to 1988 to evaluate seminaries

4

th

PPF

issued in 1992 with extensive content on celibacy and sexuality

Five Principles

adopted in 1992

Seminary

Response

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ignificant

development of formation program content and introduction of human formation

A

ppointed formation

advisors for each seminarian to balance the strictly confidential nature of spiritual directionTo encourage and assess growth in four areas: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoralPsychological testing emphasizedB-11Slide12

Phase

4

–

After 2002 Revelations

Church

Response

Charter for the Protection of

Children

and Young People

issued

in Dallas in

2002

Nature and Scope Study

authorized; issued in

2004

Causes and Context Study

authorized; issued in 2011

Vatican apostolic visitation of seminaries

- 2005-2007;

report

issued in 2008

5th PPF issued in 2005 with extensive content on celibacy, sexuality, and requirements of human formation Seminary

Response

C

ontinued

development and enhancement of human formation in virtually all seminariesFocus on findings from the visitation with added instruction on celibacy, sexuality, and moral theology, and seminary

life

Rule

of Life

in seminaries expanded and tightened

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Details of Responses by the Bishops’ Conference, 1“Five Principles” to Guide the Response of Bishops (1992)

(1) Respond

promptly to all allegations of abuse where there is reasonable belief that abuse has occurred;(2) If such an allegation is supported by sufficient evidence, relieve the alleged offender promptly of his ministerial duties and refer him for appropriate medical evaluation and intervention

;

(

3) Comply

with the obligations of civil law regarding reporting of the incident and cooperating with the investigation;

(

4) Reach

out to the victims and their families and communicate sincere commitment to their spiritual and emotional well-being; and(5) Within the confines of respect for privacy of the individuals involved, deal as openly as possible with the members of the community.

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Details of Responses by the Bishops’ Conference, 2

Charter for the Protection of Children and Young PeopleDeveloped from work of the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse, entitled Restoring Trust, 1994 Reports“Essential Norms” were approved in 2002 and were published as the second part of what is commonly called “The Charter” or “The Dallas Charter”

“The Charter” was approved by U.S. Bishops in revised form in 2005

“The Charter” was revised and approved for a second time in 2011

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Details of Responses by the Bishops’ Conference, 3“Office of Child and Youth Protection”

The

Charter created an Office of Child and Youth Protection* in 2002 with three assigned tasks:To assist each diocese and eparchy in implementing “Safe Environment” programs

To develop an appropriate compliance and mechanism to assist the Bishops and Eparchies in adhering to the responsibilities set forth in the

Charter

To prepare a public, annual report describing the compliance of each diocese and eparchy to the

Charter’s

provisions

*Office

was changed to “Secretariat” in 2008B-15Slide16

Details of Responses by the Bishops’ Conference, 4

This consultative

body was established in 2002 by the USCCB. Its duties include:reviewing the annual report of the Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection on the implementation of

the

Charter

in each diocese/eparchy

making recommendations that emerge from the report, and

offering its

own assessment regarding its approval and publication to the

USCCB Presidentadvising the Conference President on future membersB-16

National Review

BoardSlide17

Details of Responses by the Bishops’ Conference, 5

Each

diocese/eparchy will have a review board that will function as a confidential consultative body to the bishop/eparch in discharging his responsibilities. The functions of this board may include:

advising the diocesan bishop/eparch in his assessment of allegations of sexual abuse of minors and in his determination of suitability for ministry

reviewing

diocesan/eparchial policies for dealing with sexual abuse of

minors

offering advice on all aspects of these cases, whether retrospectively or

prospectively

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Diocesan Review

BoardsSlide18

Summary of Responses to Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States

Church Directives on Formation for Celibacy

Phases of Response to Clerical Sexual Abuse by the Church and by SeminariesDetails of Responses by the Bishops’ Conference- Promulgation of the “Five Principles”- Development of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People

- Creation of the “Office for Children and Youth Protection”

- Establishment of the National Review Board and Diocesan/

Eparchical

Review Boards

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Discussion QuestionsWhat other actions have been taken in

your

institution to prevent clerical sexual abuse?What other preventative measures are needed in the future?How well informed about prevention of abuse are the administrators, faculty, and students of your institution?What more needs to be done to ensure continued progress in understanding and acting on the problem of clerical sexual abuse?

Link

to USCCB –

http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/charter.cfm

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Prepared by:Sister Katarina Schuth, O.S.F., St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, University of St. Thomas

Technical Associate: Catherine Slight

Consultants: Dr. Karen Terry and Margaret Smith, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, authors of major studies on sexual abuse for the USCCB; Dr. Mary Gautier, Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate

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