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  Reporting Abuse to Civil Authorities a Must

By Jerome E. Listecki
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
February 15, 2010

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/84412362.html

WISCONSIN -- When I was ordained a priest in 1975, I never imagined I would be publicly apologizing for the criminal and sinful actions of priests who abused children. These crimes go against everything the priesthood and the Catholic Church represents. It is a horror we can never erase and for which we will always atone. As a representative of the church, I apologize to victims/survivors and their families and promise to strive for healing and resolution.

In my first six weeks as archbishop of Milwaukee, I have been pleased to learn about the deliberate and pastoral approach that has shaped policies within this archdiocese, especially since 2002. I want everyone in southeastern Wisconsin to be aware of these policies and understand what happens when we receive a report of sexual abuse by a diocesan priest.

In the archdiocese, we have a Community Advisory Board that counsels me on our policies and practices. Board members include individuals with expertise from outside the church structure and are listed on the archdiocesan Web site. My desire as your new archbishop is to learn from and build upon the high standards already in place, always listening for recommendations to improve our efforts.

There has been confusion about policies in the Diocese of La Crosse. I have encouraged the diocesan administrator to more directly state the diocese's child abuse reporting policies and to post them on its Web site and in its newspaper. The La Crosse Diocesan Child Sexual Abuse Review Board met Monday to review this suggestion and directed those clarifications be made.

In the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, sexual abuse/misconduct is reported as follows:

• Any staff member or volunteer who knows or suspects that a minor (under the age of 18) is being sexually abused is required to report directly to the civil or criminal authorities. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee follows the mandatory reporting laws established by the State of Wisconsin.

• When a person comes forward to the archdiocese with a report of sexual abuse/assault, and the abuse occurred when the person was a minor but the person is reporting as an adult, the case is automatically reported to civil authorities if the perpetrator is still alive. This has been the policy since 2003.

• When an adult comes forward to the archdiocese with a report of sexual abuse or misconduct that occurred when the person was an adult, they are encouraged to make a report to the civil authorities. In this case, it is our policy to defer to the reporting adult as to whether to contact civil authorities. This benchmark of deferring to the adult victim is the standard practice by social service, advocacy and victim assistance agencies in the community. (In the recent La Crosse case involving an adult victim and reported in the media, the individual initially requested confidentiality, and we deferred to that person's request.)

As diocesan bishop, I also want to know of every report of sexual abuse of a minor because of the commitment I have made under the U.S. Bishops' Charter - to hold perpetrators accountable and remove them from any public ministry, regardless of whether any criminal prosecution can occur.

Our primary concerns as a church are to work with victims/survivors, to provide assistance toward healing and resolution, to hold perpetrators accountable and to put in place policies and procedures that ensure, to the best of our ability, nothing like this horror can ever happen again. This was a priority for me in La Crosse and will remain a priority for me in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

 
 

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