Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput has announced the Archdiocese of
Philadelphia’s latest polices for the protection of children, 20 months
after a grand jury investigation blasted archdiocesan officials for
their handling of clerical sex-abuse cases.
“While recently
codified these same policies have actually guided our practices for more
than a year. They’ll be reviewed on a regular basis and updated as
circumstances require,” said Chaput in a prepared statement released
Wednesday.
Among the key changes are a separate archdiocesan
office of investigations to ensure immediate referral of any complaints
to law enforcement officials, codification of steps for thorough
screening of priests seeking to minister in the Archdiocese of
Philadelphia and referral of all complaints against clergy that involve
minors to the Archdiocesan Review Board that provides recommendations of
suitability for ministry to Chaput after assessing abuse allegations.
Archdiocesan
Review Board Vice Chairman Arnold Gordon, a former Philadelphia
Assistant District Attorney, said, “The revised polices and procedures
constitute significant evidence of the commitment of the Philadelphia
archdiocese to a zero tolerance policy toward sexual abuse of minors.”
However
John Salveson, state president of the Foundation to Abolish Child Sex
Abuse who said his complaints of abuse by a Long Island priest when he
was an adolescent were ignored by church hierarchy, claimed Chaput’s
actions are not consistent with his words.
“Just two weeks ago
Archbishop Chaput reinstated the Rev. Joseph DiGregorio whose case was
prominent in the 2011 grand jury report. Chaput acknowledged the priest
had ‘violated church standards for priests’ behavior’ but declined to
explain the violations. He also said his decision was based in part on
the fact that there was only a single accuser, “ said the 56-year-old
Radnor resident.
In March 2011, 26 archdiocesan priests were
suspended by former Philadelphia archbishop, Cardinal Justin Rigali,
after they were mentioned in a Philadelphia grand jury report released
in February 2011. At least nine of the suspended priests had Delaware
County connections including two pastors and a parochial vicar.
Complaints against them were reviewed by a team headed by former
Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Gina Maisto Smith.
Allegations
against them range from exceeding acceptable boundaries with language
or touching, to sexual assault of minors. All of the cases were first
referred to Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams’ office, then
reviewed by Smith and her multi-disciplinary team of law enforcement and
child abuse experts. Chaput has the final word on whether the
allegations are substantiated and who gets to return to active ministry.
Fifteen
cases have been resolved resulting in eight priests found suitable for
ministry and seven found unsuitable. One of those priests, the Rev.
Andrew McCormick, was arrested at his parents’ home in Pottstown in July
for allegedly sexually assaulting an altar boy in 1997 while serving at
a Philadelphia parish. In another case, the priest died before the
review could be completed. Nine of the cases have yet to be resolved.
Maisto’s team has reviewed more than 400,000 pages of documents and
interviewed 244 witnesses in the United States and in foreign countries
in an attempt to resolve these cases, according to archdiocesan
officials.
The latest to be resolved was that of DiGregorio who
Chaput announced in October, was found suitable for ministry. He said
although the 72-year-old priest, who was last based at Stella Maris
parish in Philadelphia, violated the Standards of Ministerial Behavior
and Boundaries more than 40 years ago, there have been no complaints
about him since.
“The archbishop’s actions tell the true story -
the church comes first and the victims come second. That is also why he
and the PA Catholic Conference continue to block the reform of PA’s
archaic statute of limitations laws related to child sex abuse,” said
Salveson.
A grand jury investigation launched by former
Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham in 2002 revealed in 2005
that 63 priests allegedly abused children as far back as the 1940s, 43
of them with connections to Delaware County. None could be prosecuted
because the Pennsylvania statute of limitations on sexual assault had
expired. The statute was expanded in 2006 to age 50 for victims and is
now age 30 for the filing of civil suits.
Consequently, a second
grand jury investigation on clerical sexual abuse convened by Williams
resulted in the arrest of two priests, a former priest and a former male
Catholic lay teacher for the alleged sexual abuse of boys, and the
arrest of Monsignor William Lynn of St. Joseph Parish in Downingtown for
allegedly endangering the welfare of children because he did not turn
known pedophiles over to civil authorities when he was secretary for the
clergy. He became the first Catholic Church official in the country
charged with and, in June, convicted of such a crime.
The second
grand jury report, released Feb. 10, 2011, was the source of the 26
suspended priests who were among 37 mentioned as causes for concern.
Chaput said the revised archdiocesan policies to protect children and
young people were developed through consultation with county district
attorneys’ offices and experts in the field of child sexual abuse since
the release of the second grand jury report.
“No entity in the
United States today, Catholic or otherwise, seeks more earnestly than
our archdiocese to prevent the sexual abuse of children. These policies
and procedures are a clear indication of that commitment,” said Chaput.
But
Salveson believes that Chaput continues to protect pedophile priests as
evidenced through his refusal to identify accused abusers’ violations
and through his efforts to block proposed state legislation that
eventually would abolish the age limit for child sex abuse victims to
file charges and provide a two-year window during which all statutes of
limitations would be removed for civil suits.
“It is profoundly
insulting and hurtful to sex abuse victims to hear Chaput mouth words of
support while continuing to shelter predators,” said Salveson. “He
should be ashamed of himself, and right-minded Catholics in Philadelphia
should see right through him.”