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	Church Complies with Safe-Child Rules By David Hench Portland Press Herald http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=156957&ac=PHnws December 21, 2007 The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland is complying with the Church's child protection measures, according to an outside audit that included checks on several parishes. The annual audit by the Gavin Group was done in September. This year, the Maine diocese volunteered to be one of the first in the nation to undergo an expanded audit that included visits to parishes to ensure that they are complying with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The charter was adopted in 2002 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in response to the scandal involving priests' sexual abuse of minors. The charter requires every diocese to: — Tell civil authorities about allegations of sexual abuse of minors by church representatives. — Investigate allegations quickly and thoroughly. — Remove clergy or church members who sexually abuse minors. — Offer abuse prevention training for volunteers and awareness programs for minors. — Prevent minors from being alone with church representatives. — Do background checks on volunteers who work with children, and on all church personnel. An audit of the Portland diocese in 2005 showed that not all volunteers had received the required training or background checks, and not all children had received sexual-abuse awareness training. The 2007 audit included one auditor whose sole responsibility was verifying that parishes had only trained adults with background checks working with children, according to a news release from the diocese. That auditor visited parishes in Cape Elizabeth, Portland, Augusta and Lisbon Falls. Audits were done by telephone for parishes in Madawaska and Bangor. "An examination at this level is where we can really determine if our policies are working," Bishop Richard Malone said in a written statement. The audit assessed parishes' practices for handling allegations and offered recommendations for improvement, spokeswoman Sue Bernard said. Critics of the church's handling of the sexual-abuse scandal say the audits show the church is making steps to improve but could do more. Michael Sweatt of Voice of the Faithful said the audits would have more credibility if members of outside groups such as his were invited to observe the process. Sweatt commended the bishop for compelling priests to abide by the charter mandates but faulted him for not alerting communities where inactive priests who have been accused of abuse are residing. The audit of the Portland diocese, one of about a dozen nationwide that got expanded audits, will be included in a national report generated in January or February that includes the results of all of the audits, Bernard said. Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at: dhench@pressherald.com
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