Amazingly, Not All Catholic Priests Undergo Background Checks

By Paul Muschick
Morning Call
June 5, 2019

https://www.mcall.com/opinion/mc-opi-catholic-church-sex-abuse-muschick-20190605-f7accgy7orcw3gmoqezz5esqm4-story.html

You may not be surprised to learn that another review has found shortcomings with the Catholic church’s efforts to prevent clergy sexual abuse of children.

What’s interesting is this review came from within the church.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently released its annual audit about whether dioceses are complying with conference rules enacted in 2002 to stop abuse, and to deal with the aftermath of it.

The study found a “heightened sense of urgency and focus" in many dioceses in 2018. It also uncovered recurring problems, including failure to train or check the backgrounds of clergy, employees and volunteers who have contact with children.

Incredibly, three eparchies — they’re similar to a diocese but don’t have geographic boundaries — refused to participate in the review.

That’s like slamming the door in Jesus’ face when he comes knocking with a question.

Auditors visited 72 of the nation’s 197 dioceses and eparchies, including Philadelphia and Greensburg. The others, including Allentown, were audited through a 12-page questionnaire.

Allentown passed. It told auditors that students, clergy, teachers, employees and volunteers had received safe environment training and the adults underwent background checks, according to a diocese news release.

Allentown is scheduled for an on-site review in the 2020 audit, diocese spokesman Matt Kerr said.

Other dioceses did not perform well. Auditors found “signs of complacency and lack of diligence” at some.

Regarding background checks, 99.3 percent of priests in the 194 dioceses and eparchies that participated in the audit, either through site visits or questionnaires, had background checks. That’s a slight improvement from the three previous years, and a slight decrease from the rate in audit years 2013 and 2012.

While that number isn’t awful, anything short of perfection is unacceptable, considering the potential consequences and the church’s history.

In the 72 dioceses that had on-site audits, 4% had some clergy, employees and volunteers who were not trained or background checked and have contact with children; 3% had clergy who were removed from ministry with no formal plan to monitor their whereabouts or activities; and about 7% expressed difficulties in getting parishes and schools to respond to their requests regarding “safe environment” requirements.

“While not widespread, the fact that in some dioceses these recurring problems are still evident points to lack of diligence that puts children’s safety at risk,” according to a letter in the audit report from Francesco Cesareo. He’s chairman of the National Review Board set up by the bishops conference to oversee compliance.

The audit does not include results for individual dioceses. But it says 14% of those that were visited will require a follow-up visit, indicating “the laxity that exists in some dioceses.”

The problems are not universal. Some dioceses and eparchies are doing more than required.

The audit found that many hold refresher training and require background check renewals. And compared to previous years, there was a “significant increase” in the number of dioceses reviewing clergy personnel files to ensure any past issues were handled appropriately.

The audit called out a few dioceses and eparchies.

The Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, was found to be violating a requirement for “open and transparent communications to the public regarding allegations of sexual abuse of minors by the clergy, especially in those parishes that may have been affected.”

The eparchies that didn’t participate in the audit were: Phoenix; St. Peter the Apostle based in San Diego; and St. Mary Queen of Peace based in Elmont, New York, which has a church in Philadelphia. Their lack of participation meant it wasn’t possible to determine whether they were complying with the rules.

There’s no excuse for laxity or noncompliance.

The bishops’ rules, formally known as the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, have been in place for 17 years and a compliance audit happens annually.

Plus, you’d think church leaders would have strengthened their efforts amid increased attention from law enforcement after last year’s Pennsylvania grand jury investigation that found hundreds of priests had abused more than 1,000 children over decades.

Subsequent probes have been launched by authorities in other states.

The audit acknowledged that.

Cesareo wrote that the trying environment the church faces has led people to question whether the bishops’ charter is more about “checking-off-the-box” than about “creating a culture of safety.”

He said the National Review Board wants to be able to do a deeper audit and review how each parish complies. That would require the bishops to update their rules.

A lot of dioceses already check up on parishes themselves, including about half of those that were examined in this study, Cesareo said. And 28 of the 72 that were audited chose to have their parishes audited, too. Allentown audits its parishes, Kerr said.

The bishops’ conference should take up that recommendation. I believe the U.S. bishops already have been more accountable in recognizing and trying to stop clergy sexual abuse of children than the Vatican. Broadening their compliance review to include parishes would reinforce that commitment.

And publishing the results of the annual reviews of individual parishes and dioceses, instead of relying on the dioceses to disclose that information, would improve transparency at a time when the church needs to build credibility.

Morning Call columnist Paul Muschick can be reached at 610-820-6582 or paul.muschick@mcall.com

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