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  Church, Advocates Differ on Priest Abuse Issue

By Pat Kinney
Courier [Waterloo IA]
February 20, 2005

WATERLOO --- The relative quiet within the Dubuque archdiocese on the clergy sex abuse issue may soon be over, a Dubuque-ordained priest and nationally known advocate for abuse victims suggested in response to three lawsuits filed Friday.

"I think there will be an explosion in Dubuque," said the Rev. Tom Doyle, a Maryland-based canon lawyer and co-author of a groundbreaking 1985 church-commissioned national study on sex abuse in the priesthood.

"I think what will happen is when some cases get some publicity, that will make a change. And it will be difficult for a lot of good Catholic people in Dubuque and many of the priests to think this has happened," he said.

The new lawsuits, all by current and former Waterloo residents, were filed hours after the archdiocese updated Northeast Iowa Catholics on its efforts to help victims and prevent future abuse.

Unless the Dubuque archdiocese is an exception to the rest of the nation and Catholic world, Doyle said, "this has been well-covered up and the lid is being pried off."

The archdiocese has not denied child sexual abuse by clergy occurred within its jurisdiction. Local church leaders began removing abusive priests before national publicity in 2002.

Under Archbishop Jerome Hanus' 11-year tenure, three archdiocesan priests have been publicly removed from priestly duties for alleged misconduct. One of them, the Rev. Timothy DeVenney, was prosecuted criminally and imprisoned in 1997 in connection with incidents in Dubuque.

In December 2003, Hanus issued a report to Catholic households in the archdiocese that said 26 priests were accused of sexually abusing children from 1950 through 2002. The report tallied 67 victims at that time, including 12 girls and 55 boys. The archdiocese paid about $1.2 million in settlements and counseling for victims.

In an updated report issued Friday, Hanus said 34 individuals have contacted the archdiocese since January 2003 with complaints of child sexual abuse by clergy. Some overlap with previous cases; some are decades old. The archdiocese expended an additional $170,000 in its 2003-04 fiscal year on settlements, counseling and other support for victims and background checks for all archdiocesan personnel working with children.

Hanus appointed a review board that drafted a policy on handling clergy sex abuse complaints following mandates of a 2002 Dallas bishops conference, created an Office for the Protection of Children, appointed victim witness coordinators to work with victims and instituted an anti-sexual-abuse training program for archdiocesan personnel.

At "services of lament" --- a prayer service similar to a Good Friday observance --- and at priest conferences around the archdiocese, including one in Waterloo in late 2003, Hanus publicly apologized for the abuse, as well as "the inaction of some archbishops and for their mistaken decisions to continue allowing abusive priests a place of authority and respect when they did not deserve it."

Hanus added more in e-mail correspondence with the Courier.

"I continue to meet with victims and their families to listen with patience and compassion to their experiences and concerns," Hanus wrote. "We do often help with counseling expenses. We have placed notices in all churches and schools and other places, inviting people who have been abused to come forward.

"We do attempt to hold offenders accountable for their actions. Some priests have even contributed toward the settlements which have been reached. We have held prayer and penance services, some presided over by myself and some by pastors in their local parishes.

"These are some of the ways by which we address the situation," Hanus wrote.

Yet, victim advocacy groups, such as Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and critics have said the archdiocesan response is inadequate at best and, at worst, is damage control in response to criticism and litigation.

"It may be they are sincere," Doyle said. "But to the average members in general, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church is not trusted, especially by the victims. They want action.

"The one thing that will restore credibility is when we see some action, not words. If they have credible, proven accusations, they name the abuser publicly to the faith communities in which the abuser has served. And they have to show some compassion for the victims. And that begins with the bishop. Not with the public, or as a group, but one on one. I think that's vital. And organize the (nonoffending) priests to reach out and provide that care."

That includes retraining, if necessary, Doyle said.

"There needs to be a lot of re-orientation. This isn't an easy issue" for the church, he said. "Abortion is easy. Peace is easy. But this is more embarrassing. It's right in our own midst."

Steve Theisen of Hudson, co-founder of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, also wants more.

"To date, not one priest in the archdiocese has contacted us or publicly supported survivors," Theisen said. "Nor has one order of nuns or religious men, a parish board, or a parish publicly supported survivors. ... These survivors (who filed suit) broke the silence when those responsible inside of the archdiocese failed to do so."

Compared with other jurisdictions, such as the nearby Davenport diocese, which had threatened to file bankruptcy over victim damages, Doyle said, Dubuque has remained relatively quiet because of the church's clout in the area.

"There's so much influence by the institutional church that people aren't being allowed to go public ... ," Doyle said. "That has a big influence, as well as the very real possibility that there are attorneys who simply don't want to litigate against the Catholic Church."

The church has downplayed the harm done to victims, Doyle suggested.

"In some cases we're talking about rape," he said. "I don't see the difference when a person was abused 20 years ago.

"The pain is still there for a person abused a long time ago," he said. "They still feel it. They've probably buried it for a long time and now are coming out publicly because they're finally discussing, they've finally been given permission (by society), to make their case because they've been shamed out of doing it before."

Past practices

Some of the abuse was covered up as offending priests were moved from parish to parish when rehabilitation didn't work.

Hanus indicated his two immediate predecessors --- James J. Byrne, Dubuque archbishop from 1962 to 1983, and Daniel Kucera, from 1983 to 1994 --- differed in their philosophies on how priests accused of abuse should be treated.

Of Byrne, who died in 1996, Hanus said, "In general it was his practice to send priests away for what at that time was considered appropriate care or even 'treatment.' For his time, Archbishop Byrne was open to the insights of psychology and mental health treatment. He also relied heavily on spiritual programs, retreats, prayer and other traditional forms of 'penance and conversion.' He believed strongly that people could change. His beliefs, I venture to say, were fortified by some mental health experts at that time.

"Today, the opinions are quite different."

Kucera "was much more skeptical," Hanus said. "When he became convinced that a priest had sexually abused a minor, he typically removed him from ministry, sent him away for treatment (to reduce the danger of further abuse), and 'retired' him from the priesthood. Archbishop Kucera did this years before the Dallas Charter, which was developed in 2002."

That guideline came from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, mandating new policies be drawn up within each diocese.

Joyce Connors, director of the archdiocese's Office for the Protection of Children, said Hanus has taken a personal approach and met with numerous victims since she began the job in midsummer.

"He's devoting a lot of time to it. Just the fact that he created an office and hired somebody to try and coordinate that says that he, personally, wants it done," Connors said.

Chris Corken, an assistant Dubuque County attorney and chairwoman of the Archdiocesan Review Board, said the effort is sincere and not simply an attempt to head off lawsuits.

"We aren't doing anything to interfere with litigation," she said. "We just would like people to go through the process (of contacting the archdiocese){M3 and to see if we can provide some support to them. But we would never in any way interfere with anyone's interests or ability to litigate. We would never make it a condition. We just give them this opportunity. If they so choose, fine. If they choose not to, that's fine too. But in a sense, they're kind of mutually exclusive, in that once litigation starts then the board really has no role any longer."

Then, it is up to the attorneys.

Connors said individuals still have civil options if they go through the archdiocesan process first.

"I tell them the exact opposite," Doyle said, encouraging victims to seek legal remedies first. "Don't even waste your time. There needs to be some compassion. You don't just talk about it. You need to see some action."

At least one Northeast Iowa Catholic and the mother of a priest said the abuse issue is being addressed, even belabored, and it is time to move on.

"I'm tired of this. We're trying to do some judging that's not in our place," said Karen Atwood, a Waterloo consumer credit counselor. "When a person has a problem, that's their problem, between them, their God and the law. When it's found out they've not followed a law, so be it, but to do this on and on and on? Would any of us want our past, our problems, put out on the front page of the paper? ... Nothing's going to happen to the true people responsible, the ones at the top. It's no different than the government.

"The key is, we're moving forward," Atwood said. "We live in the future and today. We don't live in the past.

"And remember, we are going on Lent," she said. "Lent means forgiveness, and forgiveness is what it's all about. We all need forgiveness, but you move on, you don't continue to hash it over once you've forgiven. That's tough for any of us to swallow.

"We also need to remember here that there are thousands of good priests out there who have done nothing but good," Atwood said.

But Theisen said a full institutional confession, including disclosing offenders' names, may be good for the soul of the church, its clergy and its people.

"Victims of religious abuse are not a threat to one's faith life. Secrecy is," he said.

 
 

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