ALBANY (NY)
The Daily Gazette [Schenectady NY]
January 2, 2025
By Ottavio Lo Piccolo
Thousands of children and vulnerable adults, in our state and throughout the world, have been molested in the last several decades by Catholic clergy and by other denominations.
Although 28 states already mandate clergy to report any form of child maltreatment, New York has yet to approve such an important protection.
So, if a clergy member in our state suspects that a child in the congregation has been abused, that clergyperson isn’t legally required to report it.
New Yorkers should contact their state senators and ask that they quickly pass the Child Abuse Reporting Expansion Act, Senate bill S3158, aka the CARE ACT. The Assembly approved the legislation last year. If approved by the Senate and signed by the governor, this legislation will require clergy in New York to be mandated reporters of abuse – as all other professionals in our state who are in contact with children and adults.
Unfortunately, S3158 has been sitting in the Senate Committee of Family and Children since January 2023. Voters must advocate for moving the bill out of committee and to the governor’s desk as soon as the Legislature reconvenes next week.
Recently, law firms and reliable news outlets have been reporting that sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic Church have dropped significantly – from 4,434 in 2019 to 1,308 in 2023.
However, many issues still plague the Church.
• Sexual abuse continues worldwide.
• Many high-ranking Church officials have orchestrated cover-ups. Instead of safeguarding children, they concealed the abuse and participated in “priest shuffling” — transferring priests accused of sexual abuse to other parishes or dioceses to keep the abuse secret and without notifying the priests’ new supervisor.
• Bishops and cardinals chose to protect abusive priests and the reputation of the Church over the safety of children and/or vulnerable adults.
• Sexually abusive priests are leaving the Church, but law enforcement and religious authorities are still complicit in protecting them from consequences.
• Church leaders who failed to act against pedophile priests haven’t been removed from their posts, and those being the object of past administrative actions and/or inactions were a further source of evil for survivors.
• Church still failing to ensure clerical sexual abuse cases were dealt with accordingly.
• The Vatican is still too slow and secretive.
• In 2019, Pope Francis admitted that priests and bishops had abused nuns and forced them to have abortions. However, activists accused Pope Francis of also ‘turning a blind eye’ to clergy who assault nuns.
Sexual abuse at the hands of clergy is still a persistent problem in our state and the Western world.
Contact your state senator and the following senators responsible for this bill:
• Sen. Jabari Brisport: (718) 643-6140; brisport@nysenate.gov. As Chair of the Committee on Children and Families, he decides when a bill will be taken up by his committee and subsequently brought to the floor for a vote.
• Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D, WF); hoylman@nysenate.gov; (518) 455-2451
• Sen. Clare Cordel (D); cleare@nysenate.gov; (518) 455-2441
• Sen. Mark Walczyk (R, C); walczyk@nysenate.gov; (518) 455-3438
If you live in the Capital Region, contact:
• Sen. Jim Tedisco (R) 44th District; tedisco@nysenate.gov; (518) 885-1829
• Sen. Neil D. Breslin (D); breslin@nysenate.gov; 518-455-2225
Urge them to approve Senate bill S3158, the CARE ACT, to protect children and vulnerable adults from clergy sexual predators.
Thank you.
Ottavio Lo Piccolo of Schenectady is a lifelong practicing Catholic.
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