BishopAccountability.org
	Religious Orders to Conduct Own Audit By Cathy Lynn Grossman USA Today Downloaded January 8, 2004 When Catholic leaders on Tuesday released a report of their efforts to combat sexual abuse of minors in every diocese, it did not include a third of U.S. priests: the 15,000 who belong to religious orders. However, the Rev. Ted Keating, head of the umbrella group for leaders of religious orders, said Wednesday that a similar process is underway for those priests, "paralleling the bishops' program" for setting standards for conduct, reporting and preventing abuse. Keating's group is training U.S. leaders of the 125 international religious orders on the requirements of their policy. Next year, they will conduct an accreditation process similar to the audit just presented by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Keating said. He said religious orders have volunteered to participate in a second major study underway by the bishops' group ? a retrospective look at the scope of the scandal that has rocked the church for two years. The church's first national tally of the numbers of abusers and victims and the financial costs of dealing with abuse, prepared by the John Jay College of Justice, will be released Feb. 27. The report is weeks away, but there already is concern that it will not get full public attention, that the public is weary of the scandal and is turning attention to elections, the economy and other news. Ever since the bishops set their sexual abuse policy in June 2002, Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville, Ill., head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has said the only enforcement of the bishops' accountability efforts would be public outrage. As promised, the audit named all the dioceses not in compliance by the audit publishing deadline. However, by Wednesday, most had accomplished all but two or three of the 14 required steps. The diocese of Arlington, Va., for example, had not completed instituting by the deadline child-protection programs and carrying out criminal background checks on clergy, teachers, volunteers and anyone who works with children. But a diocesan spokesman said Wednesday that both steps were well underway. The audit also cited six dioceses and eparchies that failed to participate, as required, in the John Jay study. It's a violation that "embarrasses every bishop in the USA," said Jim Post, president of Voice of the Faithful, a Boston-based church reform group with 30,000 members. "The audit was a trial balloon for level of public scrutiny," Post said Wednesday. "Are ordinary Catholics headed for outrage fatigue? Perhaps yes. Some bishops are just hoping this will all go away. "But they miscalculate the intensity and the depth of survivors' intent to stay on this issue. Even if all (bishops') efforts work perfectly and no one is ever abused again, the victims who are teens today will be with us for most of this century." Keating's group is training U.S. leaders of the 125 international religious orders on the requirements of their policy. Next year, they will conduct an accreditation process similar to the audit just presented by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Keating said. He said religious orders have volunteered to participate in a second major study underway by the bishops' group ? a retrospective look at the scope of the scandal that has rocked the church for two years. The church's first national tally of the numbers of abusers and victims and the financial costs of dealing with abuse, prepared by the John Jay College of Justice, will be released Feb. 27. The report is weeks away, but there already is concern that it will not get full public attention, that the public is weary of the scandal and is turning attention to elections, the economy and other news. Ever since the bishops set their sexual abuse policy in June 2002, Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville, Ill., head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has said the only enforcement of the bishops' accountability efforts would be public outrage. As promised, the audit named all the dioceses not in compliance by the audit publishing deadline. However, by Wednesday, most had accomplished all but two or three of the 14 required steps. The diocese of Arlington, Va., for example, had not completed instituting by the deadline child-protection programs and carrying out criminal background checks on clergy, teachers, volunteers and anyone who works with children. But a diocesan spokesman said Wednesday that both steps were well underway. The audit also cited six dioceses and eparchies that failed to participate, as required, in the John Jay study. It's a violation that "embarrasses every bishop in the USA," said Jim Post, president of Voice of the Faithful, a Boston-based church reform group with 30,000 members. "The audit was a trial balloon for level of public scrutiny," Post said Wednesday. "Are ordinary Catholics headed for outrage fatigue? Perhaps yes. Some bishops are just hoping this will all go away. "But they miscalculate the intensity and the depth of survivors' intent to stay on this issue. Even if all (bishops') efforts work perfectly and no one is ever abused again, the victims who are teens today will be with us for most of this century."
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.