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Springfield Catholic diocese to move forward with inquiry into clergy abuse
By Will Schmitt
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau plans to launch an independent inquiry going back more than five decades in the wake of reported abuse by priests elsewhere in the U.S. Leslie Eidson, director of communications for the Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocese, said the inquiry was being launched at the direction of Bishop Edward Rice, whom Pope Francis picked to lead local Catholics in April 2016. A formal canonical decree asking for the independent examination of all personnel files as well as an open letter from Rice to congregants to be read at all Masses this weekend were in the works, Eidson said. In the letter, Rice says the Springfield diocese is aware of nine inactive priests who have faced previously reported credible allegations of abusing a minor. He also says a pastor was recently placed on administrative leave for "sexual misconduct over the Internet" and says that the diocese is investing a recently reported lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct by a former Springfield diocese employee. Earlier Thursday, Archbishop Robert Carlson of the St. Louis diocese announced he was cooperating with Attorney General Josh Hawley's office in a voluntary review of clergy abuse. Eidson said the Springfield diocese had not been communicating with Hawley's office. The Springfield diocese's decision to investigate its religious leaders and lay employees comes less than two weeks after a Pennsylvania grand jury released a report that named 301 priests in connection with "widespread sexual abuse," the York (Pa.) Daily Record reported. At least 40 Pennsylvania priests confessed to sex abuse crimes against children following the grand jury report. Eidson said the Springfield-Cape Girardeau inquiry would look at "all personnel files" dating back to the diocese's formation in 1956. Noting that the diocese included dozens of counties in southern Missouri, she could not immediately say how many diocese priests and workers' histories would be subject to inspection. She said the inquiry was being launched in the interest of transparency but acknowledged that the Pennsylvania report "certainly broached (the issue) to the surface." The Springfield diocese does not yet know who will investigate, Eidson said. Local Catholic leaders are looking for a non-Catholic, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, as well as someone familiar with employment law and who "would have an eye for misconduct" and anything that could be an "impediment to ministry," she said. The News-Leader reported last week that a lawsuit alleged a former Springfield-Cape Girardeau official emotionally and sexually abused a woman on church property and that the local Catholic diocese was aware of the abuse. The diocese has declined to comment. Carlson, the St. Louis archbishop, wrote to Hawley that "we have always cooperated with law enforcement in any investigation into these matters and we will continue to do so." Hawley, in a written response, thanked Carlson and said his office "will assemble a team of experienced attorneys and career prosecutors to ensure a vigorous, searching and comprehensive inquiry" by "reviewing documents and interviewing potential victims and witnesses to acts of alleged abuse." "The protection of children from criminal abuse is one of my Office's top priorities," Hawley wrote. "I look forward to cooperating with you to ensure that the children of the Archdiocese of St. Louis are fully protected from any threat of abuse." Hawley's office noted that while jurisdiction for any sexual abuse crimes belongs to local prosecutors, the attorney general's office can get involved in this case because of the St. Louis diocese's voluntarily cooperation. From 1973 to 1984, the leader of the Springfield diocese was Cardinal Bernard Law, who is remembered for his time as archbishop of Boston, where he and other officials shuffled priests from church to church even as reports of clergy sex abuse mounted. A message for Springfield The Springfield diocese covers 39 counties, 66 parishes and more than 66,000 Catholics in southern Missouri, according to its website. Rice is the diocese's seventh bishop. The diocese provided a copy of the message Rice has for all the Catholic faithful in southern Missouri, which is expected to be read at Mass this weekend. Rice begins by describing his "great love" for the Catholic religion, prayers, saints and architecture. "Because of this great love, I have given my life to the Church," Rice says. "And because of this great love, I am devastated by the recent Pennsylvania Grand Jury revelations of sexual abuse and the subsequent cover-up from the highest levels of our Church, as I am sure you are too." "The reality is that because of the ecclesial misdeeds perpetrated against children and vulnerable adults, many have been physically, sexually, or emotionally scarred," Rice continued. "And when they cried out for help, bishops ignored those cries. The very Church they believed in, the priests and bishops they trusted with their salvation and as guides in the faith, ended up betraying them and afflicting unspeakable harm. They then harmed them further through their silence and inaction." Rice noted that most cases were reported before 2002, which he finds "consistent with previous studies showing that Catholic Church reforms in the United States drastically reduced the incidence of clergy child abuse." Speaking directly to locals, Rice writes: "The Diocese is currently aware of nine priests who are no longer in active ministry with credible allegations of abuse against a minor and all of these had been previously reported. The Diocese’s policy on sexual abuse is very clear: a report of these allegations is made to law enforcement; our internal Diocesan Review Board reviews the allegation; and pastoral care and counseling are offered to the alleged victim." The diocese has a code of conduct, but "no piece of paper can take the place of a vigilant adult who takes to heart their role in keeping people safe: children and adults alike," Rice writes. "In the interest of openness, I do want to disclose that we recently placed a pastor on administrative leave for sexual misconduct over the Internet," Rice continued. "The Diocese also just became aware of a lawsuit that alleges a former employee made inappropriate advances on an adult, and we are investigating those allegations for a response." Rice concludes his message by calling on all congregants to join in the renewal of the Catholic church. "Please join me in uniting your prayers and sacrifices with Christ and the entire Church for the healing of those who have been abused, for a greater fidelity to Christ's teachings, and for an increase in holiness," Rice says. "That can only happen with an honest conversation about the root causes of this crisis, and through the purification the Lord wants for his Church."
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