What good is the clergy sex abuse review boards? | National Catholic

In view of the historic criminal trial of church officials this year in Philadelphia and Kansas City, it is the question that requires a lot of Catholics.

The two trials are directors of the churches on the defensive for not using their lay review boards, which have been put in place by bishops of the U.S. in 2002, when they adopted the Charter for the Protection of children and young people and are designed to help the bishops to assess allegations of clergy sexual misconduct.

Yet, as now a Catholic to the United States report makes clear, the case of Kansas City and Philadelphia show a defect of the key: the value of advice is based entirely on how the bishops chose to use.

A reminder:

In Philadelphia, a grand jury report published last year (the third Government inquiry handling of the Archdiocese of abuse) found the Archdiocese had left 41 priests who had been accused of credible manner of abuse in the Department.

Yet, the President of the Board of review has written after the publication of the report that the Commission had seen only 10 cases involving priests in 2011.

A criminal trial of two priests in Philadelphia, the 2011 grand jury investigation is underway. The prosecution rested yesterday in the case of Monsignor William Lynn, a former Secretary of the clergy of the Archdiocese, and the first Director of Church to be charged to the cover-up of abuse.

In Kansas City, the Bishop and the diocese face separate criminal trials in September concerning the case of a priest of prosecutors say that the diocese knew took obscene photographs of children for at least six months before the representatives of the Church was reported to the police.

After arrest of priest, on charges of pornography involving children in May 2011, the head of the Kansas City Review Board said not responsible criminally the Council learned the charges against father Shawn Ratigan after hearing the news of his arrest reports.

"We have not been presented the case;" "We have not requested to consider the case," Jim Caccamo, who has since retired as head of the Commission, said at the time.

In today's report, American Catholic talks about Kathleen McChesney, the first head of the Office of the Bishops of the U.S. of the protection of children and young people, which has set up the following passage of the Charter of 2002.

In their report:

McChesney, a former FBI agent, says that the Councils work if the bishops - confidence and allow them to examine cases of abuse alleged with giving them all the information on the case as the diocese. "must be convinced the bishops what they should do that", she said. "The bishops have to say to their subordinates to do so."

Catholic to the United States also speaks of two bishops, members of the Commission of the Bishops of the national U.S. for cases of sexual abuse clergy and representatives of the network of survivors of those abused by priests on the system.

More analysis of McChesney:

[McChesney] says that the dioceses have been inconsistent in how they use the advice.

"I would say that 60 or 75 per cent of the dioceses have programs - but they always struggle," she said. "They have a handle on porn yet."

A meeting between the best experts on the last week of the clergy sexual abuse crisis held many similar conclusions. For more information on this, see the NCR report: Conference of California abuse focuses on the responsibility of the bishops.

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