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  Bishop Reviews Reporting Plan for Suspected Child Sex Abuse
The Spiritual Leader of Southern Arizona's Catholics Meets with Clergy to Go over the Tucson Diocese's Policy in Reporting Incidents of Sexual Misconduct

By Sheryl Kornman
Tucson Citizen [Tucson AZ]
January 18, 2005

The Catholic Diocese of Tucson appears to have stepped up efforts to make sure suspected child sex abuse is reported to authorities following the arrest in December of a priest on suspicion of failing to report an incident of alleged abuse.

Diocese spokesman Fred Allison said the timing of Bishop Gerald Kicanas' Jan. 10 review with the diocese's clergy leaders of the church's guidelines for reporting sexual misconduct by clergy is not related to the arrests in December of a Tucson priest and a church volunteer for failing to report an alleged incident of child sex abuse.

Authorities dropped the charges, and the priest was reassigned to San Luis, near Yuma, Allison said.

At the Pastoral Council meeting Kicanas covered the diocese's compliance plans, its zero-tolerance policy and the matter of the priests against whom there are credible allegations of sex abuse. The Pastoral Council is made up of clergy and lay people.

What he said was not made public.

To reach more people, a column in the January issue of Catholic Vision, the diocese newspaper, tackles the issue of why clergy or other church personnel may not report allegations of sexual abuse of minors.

Paul Duckro, a psychologist and the diocese's director of the Office of Child, Adolescent and Adult Protection, noted these key points:

"The arrests of two of our personnel for alleged failure to report have demonstrated that we ... are not perfect in our response to situations in which we encounter possible abuse."

"Lack of education in regard to reporting incidents was not the issue."

It was "the way of thinking that could lead to the wrong response."

The situation in front of us "is perceived to fall outside the definition of child abuse. It might be seen as a family matter, consensual or between kids."

Duckro said "abuse is abuse no matter the relationship of perpetrator to victim and no matter the voiced consent of the victim."

And, he said, clergy can make a mistake when they honor secrecy agreements.

"The fact is there is no confidentiality in most circumstances for most of us," he wrote.

A diocese employee who says "I don't have time for this" is making "another mistake that can make perfect sense at the time but carries no weight under the law," Duckro wrote.

He advised clergy to "take the time now (to report an incident) or risk spending much more time later trying to undo the problem the delay creates."

Thinking "this could not be true" is not an excuse for not reporting an allegation of abuse. "Make the call," he said. "Let law enforcement sort it out."

Dukro said that a lack of confidence in how police or Child Protective Services might handle the matter is not a reason to not report alleged child abuse or sexual molestation.

"Know the law," he advised them.

Kicanas sent letters to all diocese priests and deacons the week of Jan. 3 asking them "to review the requirements for background checks and fingerprint verification," according to his weekly memo published on the diocese Web site Jan. 10.

According to the diocese's Web site, "Fingerprinting and criminal background checks will be performed on all priests, deacons, religious, seminarians, diocesan employees, and all volunteers who minister to children, adolescents or vulnerable adults."

They were also asked to make sure they had signed statements indicating they had received training on the diocesan Code of Conduct and Guidelines for the Prevention of and Response to Sexual Misconduct.