Springfield woman appointed by pope to serve on panel to protect minors

By Steven Spearie
State Journal-Register
March 10, 2018

http://www.sj-r.com/news/20180310/springfield-woman-appointed-by-pope-to-serve-on-panel-to-protect-minors

Teresa Morris Kettelkamp, a parishioner at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, has been appointed by Pope Francis to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Teresa Morris Kettelkamp never envisioned such a quick return to Rome.

“Stunned. That pretty much captures it,” said Kettelkamp, a Springfield resident and Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception parishioner, about her appointment Feb. 17 by Pope Francis to a three-year term to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, finding out after an early birthday lunch at Bella Milano.

The Vatican had taken note of her work as a staff member working in Rome with the same commission, which drafts guidelines for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults as well as healing and care for sexual abuse victims and survivors, before she left in November to be closer to her family in Illinois. Kettelkamp was the only American among the nine new members named to the commission.

Kettelkamp, the first female to attain the rank of colonel with the Illinois State Police, for which she worked in a number of capacities before retiring in 2003, acknowledged the sexual abuse crisis, which rocked the Catholic Church in the United States in 2002, has hurt the credibility of the church. Victims’ stories have been overlooked or not paid attention to, she added, further casting the church as unsympathetic or rigid in its approach.

In recent months, anger and disappointment from victims and survivors has been pointed at Francis, who has defended a Chilean bishop accused of witnessing and defending a notorious predator priest from that country. A Pew Center Research poll that came out Tuesday ahead of the fifth anniversary of his papacy indicated Francis’ approval ratings from American Catholics for his handling of clerical sexual abuse dropped from 55 percent to 45 percent.

Kettelkamp, who first started doing work in this area in 2003, said the pontifical commission still has momentum and is aggressively addressing the situation and has the interest of children and victims and their families at heart. With protections in place, church environments are safe, she insisted, with the goal that those who now serve in the church would not pose a risk to the safety of children.

“The issue of clerical abuse is complex, multifaceted and global, and the solutions must match the challenges,” she said.

‘An issue of integrity’

Kettelkamp’s decorated career with the state police included heading the Division of Forensic Services — at one time the system was the world’s third largest after Scotland Yard and the FBI — and the Division of Internal Investigation responsible for the investigation of allegations of misconduct within the force, as well as in agencies, boards and commissions falling under the state’s executive branch.

After her retirement, the Chicago native went to work for The Gavin Group, which conducted audits of dioceses to make sure they were complying with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, a comprehensive set of procedures which had been adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in July 2002. Among the measures adopted by “the Dallas Charter” was mandatory reporting of all allegations to law enforcement.

“What drew me to do audit work for the Gavin Group was an issue of integrity,” said Kettelkamp, 66, and the mother of two grown children. “The protection of children (to me) is paramount.

“We had a serious ethical issue in the church. It was systematic or cultural or whatever. If I could help with my skills, especially my investigative skills, reculturate the church, I was willing to do that.

“The Illinois State Police gave me a good foundation on being an agency of integrity. Not all workplaces have that.”

Kettelkamp’s work with The Gavin Group led her to a position as executive director for the Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection under the USCCB in Washington, D.C., and in 2016 to a staff position in Rome with the Pontifical Commission, an advisory group to the pope.

In a 2017 interview with Our Sunday Visitor, a national publication independent from the Catholic Church, while she was still working for the commission, Kettelkamp said that the clergy abuse crisis “has so hurt the credibility of the church that it has hurt its ability to be a voice for those who don’t have a voice. And that’s why it’s imperative for the church to get her voice back.”

“I stand by that quote,” said Kettelkamp, in a recent phone interview. ”(The crisis has) humbled the church and reduced its credibility enormously. At the same time, I’ve found within the church people of great integrity who are faith-filled and good men and women. They’re overshadowed by the crisis.

“Now all clergy have been painted with the same brush and that’s not fair.”

Hearing the voices of victims

The commission’s most global charge is coming up with ways and methodologies to best protect children in cultures, for instance, where they are soldiers in war or sexually trafficked, added Kettelkamp.

“Many countries are in conflict so protecting children in the church takes a different lens,” said Kettelkamp. “It’s why the commission is made up of people from all over the world.”

One of the commission’s new tasks is creating an “International Survivor Advisory Panel” shaped by the voices of victim survivors, said Kettelkamp.

In February, a Vatican spokesman confirmed that Francis meets with abuse victims in groups or individually several times a month.

“Hearing the voices of victims (from all corners of the world) is immeasurably important,” said Kettelkamp. “You can’t help people if you don’t know where they are.”

Kettelkamp is a lector and eucharistic minister at the Cathedral and also visits sick and homebound parishioners, according to its pastor, the Very Rev. Christopher House.

“She’s a great lady and a great choice for the commission,” said House. “It’s a wonderful thing for the church. She’s humble for all the things she’s done and has a servant-like air about her.

“She’s compassionate and loving in her work because she’s driven in the goal of safeguarding children. She’s also tenacious and you need a strong personality to move (that commission) forward.”

Kettelkamp will travel to Rome next month to attend her first meeting as a member of the commission, which meets twice per year.