Religious Orders Differ from Dioceses on Abuse Procedures

By Manya A. Brachear
Chicago Tribune
May 25, 2013

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/religion/ct-met-religious-order-abuse-20130525,0,7073421.story

Even after settling a multimillion-dollar lawsuit last week that accused nearly a dozen men of abuse at Brother Rice, St. Laurence and Leo high schools, the Irish Christian Brothers wouldn't say whether allegations of sexual misconduct against those clergy were substantiated.

And although the leader of Chicago's Jesuits apologized last week for his order's failure to stop Donald McGuire, a priest they knew was abusing children for 40 years, the order doesn't publish a list of other members with allegations of abuse against them.

The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, passed by the nation's Roman Catholic bishops in 2002, doesn't require that level of transparency. Those dioceses that do publicize names of credibly accused clergy aren't bound to do so, experts say.

But religious orders like the Irish Christian Brothers and Jesuits have been far less forthcoming than many dioceses.

Yet, as lawsuits and cases continue to surface 11 years after bishops adopted that charter, some orders are starting to weigh the pros and cons of naming those they have established as sexual offenders. Among the lessons learned from last week's settlements totaling $36 million was the danger of keeping secrets.

"It's an ongoing conversation here," said the Rev. John Pavlik, executive director of the Conference of Major Superiors, an umbrella group for 17,000 religious men in the U.S. "Ultimately the publication of the names probably leads someone else to be courageous enough, not necessarily to acknowledge that particular name, but to name another one."

Pavlik said many orders are debating a more open policy. "We've come to a different place," he said.

When bishops passed the charter in 2002, religious orders were expected to comply. They did so in their own way and begrudgingly. Many superiors felt the charter and its zero-tolerance policy accommodated diocesan priests, with little regard for members of religious orders, who take vows of poverty and obedience and commit to community life.

Though the charter dictated removing accused priests from public ministry and ousting them from the priesthood altogether, religious orders have found ways to keep their clergy working in their community in nonpublic roles, under close supervision.

"We have what's called a fraternity," said the Rev. John Celichowski, provincial minister of the Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order in Detroit. "Where a priest takes a vow of obedience to his bishop, in our religious orders we are obedient to our superiors, and we also relate to each other as brothers."

Religious orders also created parallel measures for accountability. Instead of answering to the bishops' national review board, about 130 orders have sought accreditation from the Texas firm of Praesidium. To earn accreditation, orders must adhere to two dozen standards, which include participating in regional or independent review boards that evaluate new accusations and go over how older allegations have been handled in the past.

Celichowski said careful documentation of the reviews provide a historical context that can fall through the cracks as elected leaders fulfill term limits and move on to other duties. Problems can result when something is simply not "communicated from one administration to the next," he said.

But that issue also can be resolved if the public knows the names of accused clergy, said David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. He said it's no coincidence that the most recent accounts of cover-up have come out of religious orders rather than dioceses.

"They're behind because they can be," Clohessy said. "Every Catholic knows who and where his bishop is, and every Catholic is inclined to call his chancery office about any Catholic problems. But if a priest is a Marianist, they don't who his boss is or even where his boss is."

Although it might seem that religious orders aren't in lock step with the charter, Christy Schiller, director of religious accreditation for Praesidium, said the goals are precisely the same. Religious orders have invested a lot of money and energy into making sure accused clergy stay with their communities.

"From a public safety perspective, that's actually a real commitment to safety," she said. "They're willing to supervise the man who's not been through the criminal justice system instead of kicking him out and letting him move in next door to my family."

Pavlik said that commitment also makes some communities reluctant to publish names. Many fear the anger of victims and their advocates and imagine protesters descending on their communities once an accused cleric is identified and located.

"That could become problematic," Pavlik said. "We're more than a group that has an abuser. We have another mission. We've got work to do."