BishopAccountability.org
	Editorial: Problems Linger in Church's Abuse Policy The Daily Times [Pennsylvania] August 10, 2005 Adults who were sexually abused by priests when they were children have maintained in civil lawsuits and through support groups that officials in the Roman Catholic Church are, in essence, conspirators in the crimes because they covered them up. More to the point, church officials have long handled abuse complaints internally. In the past, they apparently transferred priests out of the parishes where they were accused of abuse to another assignment where they often would still have access to children. Sometimes they sent them to the church's own treatment facilities with the false hope that these pedophiles would be cured. What church officials apparently did not do, is tell parishioners why their priests were being transferred nor did they report the accused abusers to law enforcement authorities. The futility of this approach was painfully illustrated recently when a Philadelphia newspaper reported that, in the early 1980s, a priest claims he was instructed by officials in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to remain silent when he informed them that another clergyman was molesting boys in Northeast Philadelphia. They said they would take care of it. The alleged abuser, the Rev. James J. Brzyski, was removed from the parish, but parishioners were not told why. He reportedly continued to molest boys. He was removed from active ministry in August 1984, but not removed from society. He was just officially defrocked by the Vatican in June "in response to a finding of misconduct involving minors." That means, for 21 years after church officials apparently knew Brzyski was a potential danger to children, he was free to roam as a Catholic priest. Indeed, the church's method for handling pedophile priests has allowed an appreciable amount of time for wolves to masquerade in sheep's clothing. Another archdiocesan priest recently defrocked because of misconduct involving minors was Thomas J. Durkin who served at Holy Saviour Church in Lower Chichester and Holy Spirit Church in Sharon Hill as well as parishes in Bucks and Philadelphia counties. He was removed from active ministry more than 37 years ago. Other men just dismissed from the priesthood because of misconduct with minors who were on staff at Delaware County schools or parishes also had long stretches between the time archdiocesan officials apparently suspected they were abusers and the time the Vatican booted them from the clergy. Thomas M. Kohler was removed from active ministry 20 years ago. Richard G. Jones was removed from active ministry in 1988. Francis X. Trauger has had the least amount of turnaround from the time he was apparently suspected of abuse and the time he was dismissed from the priesthood. He was just removed from active ministry in 2003. With all the publicity surrounding clerical sexual abuse in the last three years, it is no wonder that church officials are responding more quickly to complaints. However, they have yet to respond quickly enough to allow prosecution of these accused pedophiles in a court of civil law. The statute of limitations has expired on alleged abuse that occurred more than two years ago. All of the archdiocesan priests recently defrocked because of credible allegations that they abused children are free to move about society. If they truly are pedophiles, history and medical science shows, they will probably strike again. Now, the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People adopted by the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops in June 2002 requires church officials to assist alleged clerical sexual victims in filing criminal complaints with police. If the alleged victims are smart, they will go directly to police themselves to avoid delay. What protocol priests are now instructed to follow when they become aware of potential sexual abuse by another member of the clergy is not clear since archdiocesan officials have declined to comment on that topic. It's a good bet that they're required to consult with their superiors. We don't know if priests are instructed by the church hierarchy not to report abuse allegations directly to law enforcement authorities. But there is nothing to prevent a person from making a call to the district attorney's office, whether he is wearing a Roman collar or not.