CNS STORY: 'Great deal' done to protect children from abuse, says archbishop

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FLYNN-PREVENTION Oct-15-2004 (880 words) With photo. xxxn

'Great deal' done to protect children from abuse, says archbishop

By Agostino Bono
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Children are safer in the church now because of sex abuse prevention policies adopted by the U.S. bishops two years ago, said Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis, head of the bishops' committee that oversees review of the policies.

In an Oct. 13 telephone interview with Catholic News Service, he added that public confidence in the Catholic Church, which diminished because of the clergy sex abuse scandal, "will be built up again, but it will be a gradual thing."

Archbishop Flynn is chairman of the bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse, which is supervising a two-year review of the sex abuse prevention policies contained in the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," adopted in 2002.

The review is called for in the charter and the bishops are expected to begin the review at their Nov. 15-18 general meeting and conclude it at their June 2005 meeting.

"A great deal has been done to protect our children and young people," the archbishop said.

"My hope is that any modifications (of the charter) will be simply fine-tuning," he said.

"It would be good for other organizations to look at what we have done and the recommendations we have made and to try to do likewise so that more children will be protected," he added.

Aspects of the charter he listed as helping improve child safety include:

-- Regular independent audits of diocesan compliance with policies.

-- Formation of a lay National Review Board to oversee compliance.

-- Diocesan review boards to advise the bishop on how to respond to allegations.

-- Having a person available in each diocese to handle incoming complaints about child sex abuse.

-- Background checks on church employees and volunteers who work with children.

Archbishop Flynn also strongly defended the "zero tolerance" policy, which says that any cleric who admits to or is proven to have sexually abused a child is permanently removed from ministry.

"For the sake of the church in the United States in this time of our history, I can't really think we can go in another direction," he said.

The only exceptions to "zero tolerance" in the charter are for clerics who are at an advanced age or are suffering from a serious illness.

The archbishop noted, however, that "there have been some questions" about keeping "zero tolerance." But while the charter is being reviewed, it remains in force, he said.

Although some aspects of the charter -- such as audits and the National Review Board -- are not required under church law, the bishops have a duty to apply the charter, he added.

"The binding force I think is good common sense. I wouldn't want to be a bishop and then ignore the charter," he said.

Archbishop Flynn said rebuilding confidence in the church involves making the church's prevention policies better known publicly.

"We need to get out more information to our people on what we do step by step by step when an accusation comes forward ... so people could expect any bishop to respond in kind throughout the United States," he said.

Among the issues that need "fine tuning" is ensuring equal protection for the young and for anyone who is accused of abuse but whose case has not been resolved, he said.

"People have a right to know if someone has been accused in a particular situation; and then, if that accusation is found to be false, equal amount of effort must be put into restoring that person's good name," he said.

The archbishop said another issue likely to be part of the bishops' review is the feasibility of a uniform policy regarding whether to publish the names of those accused but whose cases have not been decided.

Some dioceses have released the names while others have not.

Archbishop Flynn defended the need to continue the annual independent compliance audits, but said that there is room to modify them to make them more effective.

"We do audits for finance and it seems to me that the youth are more important than money," he said.

A new audit item this year asks for the number of new accusations received by a diocese since the previous audit, he said.

Up for discussion is whether future audits should ask for information on the yearly costs to dioceses of sex abuse case settlements, he said.

Another issue being considered by the bishops is whether the church should develop a national data bank of clerics and church employees who have not passed background checks, he said.

The charter also has expanded active lay participation in the church to the "very important area of protection for the young," he said.

He cited the National Review Board and the lay-staffed bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection that were set up to help dioceses comply with the charter. Both are mandated by the charter.

He said that there is no time limit on the existence of either organization and he expected they would remain in place as long as needed.

Overall, lay monitoring of church sex abuse policies has not produced problems for bishops because they were already used to working with lay boards on other issues, said Archbishop Flynn.

END

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