SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Catholic San Francisco
September 19th, 2012
By George Raine
A group of survivors of sexual abuse by clergy and the Archdiocese of San Francisco have jointly created a first-of-its-kind policy on how the archdiocese can better serve victims, one that aims to engage and empower them in the healing process.
The policy is the result of collaboration, not negotiation, and to the archdiocese’s knowledge it has not been replicated in any Catholic diocese in the nation, said Auxiliary Bishop Robert W. McElroy, who with Auxiliary Bishop William J. Justice joined six survivors of clergy abused to create the plan. It was approved by Archbishop George Niederauer.
In meetings over six months, the process was by design democratic, to the point there was no chairperson of the joint committee, everyone with an equal say. One product of the policy, already being implemented but only announced last week, is a wellness program that offers traditional therapeutic counseling along with alternative approaches some survivors said are very helpful, from acupuncture to nutrition to meditation to chiropractic. All are covered by the archdiocese. The policy offers mediation in lieu of a lawsuit as an option for addressing claims, and it also creates opportunities for the archdiocese to support survivor groups to further work on the healing process and expands outreach to parishioners about abuse that has occurred and what is being done to accommodating healing. Indeed, the policy is entitled “Healing the Wounds of Clergy Sexual Abuse.”
“It was an effort at empowerment for the survivors, in a way really bringing them into the policy formation process in a collaborative way,” said Bishop McElroy. “It makes the survivors part of our policy formation and the solution to this terrible problem in the church.”
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