Parish Acknowledges Contract Mistake

By Sean Teehan
Cape Cod Times
September 27, 2012

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120927/NEWS/209270336/-1/NEWS01

A contract distributed to members of a local church that drew public scrutiny was written with the best of intentions, the church's pastor said.

"All the sudden, we're thrust in this public relations disaster," the Rev. Mark Hession, pastor at Our Lady of Victory Parish, said.

A report by a Boston television station this week said parents bringing their children to Our Lady of Victory for religious education were asked to sign a form agreeing that, "Should we choose to allow another adult to provide supervision to a child, the ultimate supervision and safety of that child is still our responsibility and ours alone."

The document further stipulates parents "specifically agree not to hold the diocese or any of its employees or contractors liable for any accident, illness or harm that may result from the trip or activity," the report said.

But the program to which the form refers is the GIFT program, a multigenerational gathering in which parish families gather for a meal before breaking up into religious study and prayer groups separated by age. About 180 people attend each of these events.

"Because it involves generations of families ... we recognized that we had from the beginning to address the safety of children," Hession said of the program, which started nearly five years ago.

Although instructors and other church volunteers and employees who have access to children go through Criminal Offender Record Information checks and sexual abuse training, the church does not screen everyone who attends the GIFT program. Hession said the form was to let parents know the church needed their help in the large setting.

To Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney who has represented about 100 alleged victims of sexual abuse in the Fall River Diocese — under which Our Lady of Victory falls — the contract "sends a clear message that the diocese is not (liable) for the safety and welfare of children."

"The diocese should not have such events if they don't feel that they're qualified to adequately protect children," Garabedian said. "There's a moral obligation to protect these children."

In a statement, the diocese said the contract was prepared by the parish with some consultation with the diocese's office for child protection. Diocese administrators only became aware of the contract's existence on Monday, the statement said.

In some ways, the fallout the church is experiencing since the document reached the public is a result of the lack of trust many place in the Catholic Church since the sex abuse scandal came to light about a decade ago, Hession said. "We're going to pay a price for not only the abuse of children, but the incompetence of how it was dealt with," he said.

Hession said he understands the public perception. He said the form makes sense in context, but he should have thought twice about how it read.

"If I was a Monday morning quarterback, I wouldn't have used the form," Hession said.

steehan@capecodonline.com