MINNESOTA
National Catholic Reporter
Brian Roewe | Apr. 18, 2014
Too much power in too few hands. Inadequate oversight. Broken communication channels and compartmentalized information. An outdated record-keeping system, and no meaningful program to audit and monitor compliance.
Those “serious shortcomings” emerged from a lay task force’s six-month independent review of the policies and organizational structures within the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese related to the prevention of clergy sexual abuse of minors.
“The work of the Task Force revealed that, despite Archdiocesan policies and procedures designed to protect against clergy sexual abuse of minors, a flawed organizational structure with little oversight and accountability created opportunities for some priests to harm children,” the seven-member Safe Environment and Ministerial Standards Task Force said in its 53-page report, released Monday.
Formed in October in response to accusations of mishandled abuse allegations by the archdiocese, the task force said that too much decision-making power regarding abuse allegations rested in one or two individuals who were not subject to monitoring themselves. The task force found communication “inadequate and, at times, non-existent” among the archdiocese, lay Catholics, the media and victims.
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