Clinical counselor taking clergy abuse reports at Columbus diocese

By Danae King
Columbus Dispatch
July 26, 2020

https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200726/clinical-counselor-taking-clergy-abuse-reports-at-columbus-diocese

Laura Lewis, a licensed professional clinical counselor, poses for a portrait at Veritas Counseling and Consultation on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 in Columbus, Ohio. The Catholic Diocese of Columbus recently named Lewis its Victims Assistance Coordinator, and is now the person victims of priest sexual abuse work with. Photo by Joshua A. Bickel

Laura Lewis, a licensed clinical counselor, will now be the person who meets with survivors of priest sexual abuse of minors at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus, replacing a priest who previously had the role.

Laura Lewis believes that mental health counseling is beyond essential when working with survivors of priests’ sexual abuse of minors.

That’s part of the reason she said she was happy to accept the position of interim victims assistance coordinator when it was offered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus.

Lewis began the part-time position on July 15, replacing Monsignor Stephan Moloney in the role that includes taking all reports of sexual abuse by a clergy member in the diocese; leading the Diocesan Board of Review for the Protection of Children, a group of 10 that determines whether claims are credible; and facilitating healing and help for survivors.

Lewis, a licensed clinical counselor, has worked with the diocese in the past, including on its Safe Environment Task Force that first met in January and was charged with looking at diocesan policies and recommending changes to help the church better serve survivors.

One of their recommendations was that her position be created to help the diocese offer better outreach, support and education on the abuse crisis, according to the diocese.

Lewis will work on an interim basis until the diocese creates a full-time, permanent coordinator position.

The change comes after The Dispatch reported in March 2019 that Moloney was one of three diocesan victims’ assistance coordinators in the country who were also priests, something survivors and their advocates, such as Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), have said can be a barrier to survivors reporting abuse to diocesan officials.

Bishop Robert Brennan said hiring Lewis is a step in an ongoing process by the Columbus diocese that may include the victims assistance coordinator’s duties being spread out in a team approach.

“We care very deeply, and I’m sorry these things have happened,” Brennan said, addressing survivors of clergy sexual abuse. “We want to continue to keep moving forward in a way that is healing and conciliatory and in a way that helps this to never happen again.”

Brennan became Columbus’ 12th bishop in March 2019, on the heels of the diocese releasing its list of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor. He said then he was determined to address the issue of sexual abuse in the diocese.

In May 2019, Brennan asked diocesan staff to put together the Safe Environment Task Force and later hired an attorney to look through diocesan files to identify other priests who should be on the list of credibly accused.

The most recent change he’s made is the hiring of Lewis, who is assistant director of the Suicide Prevention Program at Ohio State University. She and her husband also own and manage Veritas Counseling & Consultation, a clinical counseling private practice in Upper Arlington.

From 1998 to 2008, Lewis worked at the diocese’s headquarters Downtown and within diocesan parishes on youth ministries at St. Paul Catholic Church in Westerville and Church of the Resurrection in New Albany. She has made presentations on mental health at different parishes since.

“It’s always been an honor to bring mental health into the church faith,” Lewis said, adding that her new position is an opportunity to give back to the church.

“I have been incredibly blessed by the church in so many ways,” Lewis said. “I really believe in the Catholic Diocese of Columbus. I believe in the good work we already do. ... I do think there are things that are looking to be shined up and expanded and advanced.”

Lewis said she has worked with victims of sexual abuse in her practice and acknowledged that it’s “tough work.”

In her work in the diocese, she said, it’s important to offer a variety of ways survivors can get the support they need.

“There’s so much isolation, there’s a disconnect for them,” Lewis said of clergy abuse survivors.

Lewis won’t personally be counseling survivors, instead referring them to get help from other providers.

“If I can be that person to create that pathway for them, I feel like I’m doing a really good thing,” Lewis said.

Though advocates say this is a step in the right direction, some are calling for even further action on behalf of survivors of priests’ sex abuse.

“It’s about time that they got a non-priest in there,” said Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest regional director.

Jones said “it just didn’t make sense” to have a clergyman handling calls from victims, but she still has concerns about Lewis.

“I’m concerned because this person is a former employee of the diocese anyway, so they’re not really getting a new person in there,” Jones said. The best scenario, she said, would be to get someone with no connection to the diocese and isn’t Catholic.

Jones said SNAP encourages survivors to report abuse to law enforcement officials, no matter how long ago it happened.

To survivors, she said: “If you feel like you want to report to the diocese so this person’s name can be put on the list, just do it with caution.”

Lewis said she wants to build trust with survivors so when they do come forward to report abuse, they believe what the church says will happen. She wants to define what advocacy in the church can look like.

“We want to provide support, we want to invite people to open up about their experiences and get help,” she said. “They don’t have to be alone.”

Brennan said the work of the diocese isn’t done.

“This is not a kind of project where you accomplish something and say it’s done,” he said. “This is a reality. We’re always going to have to examine, learn and reform. ... It’s a way of life.”