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Contact: Suzanne Morse 617-680-2131, smorse@votf.org
For Immediate Release
Voice of the Faithful Calls On Catholic Bishops to Continue and
Strengthen Audits
Group Decries Bishops’ “Manipulation” of Lay
National Review Board
Newton, Mass. – May 14, 2004 – Voice of the Faithful
leaders stated today that recently released letters from U.S. Catholics
bishops to Bishop Wilton Gregory questioning the work of National
Review Board (NRB) chair Justice Anne Burke demonstrate “fraternal
collusion rather than fraternal correction” among some of
the bishops.
Additionally, members are reacting to the release of a letter
by Burke charging that the U.S. Catholic bishops had manipulated
the work of the NRB, the board created by the Bishops to help make
the Church safe for children. This letter, along with letters from
various bishops asking for a delay of the implementation of the
second round of audits, are posted on the National Catholic Reporter’s
website. Voice of the Faithful leaders are calling on the bishops
not only to immediately fulfill their obligation to the Dallas
Charter by continuing the second round of audits and agreeing to
the recommendations provided by the Office for Child and Youth
Protection (OCYP) in January.
“It seems that some of the bishops are determined to force
the issues surrounding clergy sexual abuse into ‘history,’” said
James E. Post, president of Voice of the Faithful. “It is
astounding that Bishop David Ricken of the diocese of Cheyenne
claimed that ‘the bishops need a bit of a break.’ Neither
the survivor community nor the lay men and women so horrified by
the revelations of the past few years have the luxury of taking
a break from this scandal. That any bishop would seek to ‘take
a break’ rather than provide real leadership amazes me.”
“These letters appear to be more like fraternal collusion
rather than fraternal correction,” said Steve Krueger, executive
director of Voice of the Faithful. “On February 27th, the
National Review Board recommended that the bishops implement ‘fraternal
correction’ as a means of regaining the trust of faithful
Catholics after their mismanagement led to 50 years of clergy sexual
abuse. Some of these bishops seem to have taken the concept and
turned it on its ear to protect themselves, rather than children.
Such actions have eroded the progress that has been made and take
us back to step one.”
“The bishops promised, in 2002 in Dallas, to create and
maintain safe parish environments for children. That they are seeking
to go back on their promises in such a short time is astounding,” said
Post. “The Dallas Charter authorized the establishment of
an Office for Child and Youth Protection to provide a vehicle of
accountability and assistance to dioceses. The OCYP is charged
to assist individual dioceses in the implementation of ‘safe
environment’ programs, to assist in the development of appropriate
mechanisms to audit adherence to policies, and to produce an annual
public report on the progress made in implementing the standards
in this Charter. That language comes directly from the Charter
itself – the bishops promised to conduct an annual report,
and any delay can be construed as a breaking of that promise.”
In January, Voice of the Faithful called the audits a first step
to restoring the confidence of lay Catholics but expressed concern
that the audits were self-reports by the Bishops. Leaders of Voice
of the Faithful also identified a culture of secrecy and authoritarianism
that allowed this scandal to occur for decades.
Voice of the Faithful acknowledged the set of recommendations
the OCYP issued to help close important gaps. Among them was a
recommendation for long-term implementation of the audits. As was
stated in the OCYP’s report, “Failing to create a long-term
plan for accountability and response to the crisis of sexual abuse
of children and youth would undermine the substantial efforts that
have been made thus far. A short-term solution would be perceived
as insensitive to the lifelong pain suffered by victims and as
showing an unwillingness to recognize that cases of such abuse
remain unreported or could occur in the future.”
//end
About Voice of the Faithful: Voice of the Faithful
(VOTF) is a worldwide movement of concerned mainstream Catholics
formed in
response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis. The group's mission
is to provide a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit, through
which the Faithful can actively participate in the governance and
guidance of the Catholic Church. Its goals are to support victim/survivors
of abuse, support priests of integrity, and shape structural change
within the Catholic Church in full accordance and harmony with
Church teaching. VOTF’s supporting membership exceeds 30,000
registered persons from 50 U.S. states, 38 countries and 197 Parish
Voice affiliates throughout the world.
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