NEW YORK
New York Daily News
The church protects its children
Manhattan: In her recent Op-Ed, Marci Hamilton claims, without a shred of proof, that in the archdiocese there are likely “more ugly secrets about hundreds of yet-unnamed priests than any other diocese in the country” (“Let victims pursue their abusers,” Nov. 9). Hamilton ends her article by falsely arguing that “the bishops’ coverup continues today, especially in New York.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. In 2002, the file of every priest going back to the early 1950s was reviewed for any allegation of sexual abuse of a minor. Every allegation was shared with the district attorneys. Under the archdiocese’s zero-tolerance policy, any priest who has had a substantiated allegation against him has been permanently removed from ministry.
As an additional safeguard, Timothy Cardinal Dolan has had an outside firm conduct a second forensic review of every priest’s file to make certain that no allegation has been overlooked.
Also in 2002, the archdiocese entered into memorandums of understanding with the district attorneys in the archdiocese on reporting all clergy sexual abuse of minor complaints. Under that agreement with law enforcement, we strongly urge anyone with an allegation of abuse to immediately contact the district attorney’s office.
In addition, whenever the archdiocese receives a complaint of clergy sexual abuse of a minor, the archdiocese reports the matter to the district attorney’s office and assists and cooperates fully with any investigation.
Finally, in regard to prevention of sexual abuse of all children in our parishes, schools and programs, the Safe Environment Office conducts background checks annually and trains priests, teachers, coaches, parents and their children with age-appropriate safe environment training.
Edward T. Mechmann, Esq., Director of safe environment, Archdiocese of New York
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