Testing
bishop's directives
Mangold
predicts follow up will "stall" in some dioceses
By
CHRISTINE VIDAL
Contributing Editor
While
the recent gathering of the Catholic Church's United States Conference
of Bishops in Dallas provides a national framework for the reporting
of sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy, the true test of the
church's position on the issue and the effectiveness of the policy is
likely to play out on the local level, according to a UB expert in child
advocacy and law.
"The
success of the Dallas conference is going to depend not on what has
happened up until now, but on what we see from here on out," said Susan
Vivian Mangold, associate professor of law and director of the university's
interdisciplinary Baldy Center Program on Children, Families and Society.
Although
the conference laid out a broad charter of changes that need to occur,
such as the reporting of cases immediately to civil authorities and
the removal of offending priests from active ministry, real action easily
could be stymied, she said.
"It
would be very easy to make the Dallas conference meaningless by keeping
the status quo at the local level. I won't be surprised if that happens
in a number of dioceses," said Mangold, a practicing Catholic.
The
conference produced the "Essential Norms for Diocesan/Eparchial Policies
Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests, Deacons
and Other Church Personnel," as well as the "Charter for the Protection
of Children and Young People."
"The
norms were less publicized and require the approval of the Holy See.
If there is no local pressure to change the environment for reporting
and to put supports in place for victims who come forward, the local
diocese can stall by awaiting approval of the norms by the Holy See,"
warned Mangold.
The
charter calls for the establishment of review boards composed of a majority
of lay people who are not diocesan employees to assess allegations against
priests and their fitness for ministry. Mangold emphasized that these
boards should not do any preliminary investigations.
"All
allegations must be immediately referred to civil authorities who have
the expertise and the services to deal with the allegations," she said.
The
effectiveness of the boards in changing local policies and practices
will hinge on who is named to the group. "Change at the local level
must come from civil professionals; the church does not have the expertise,
nor the trust of the community, to handle these matters," Mangold said.
Although
the charter also calls for sanctions against priests who have committed
abuse in the past, Mangold expressed concerns over how that would be
carried out.
"Who
is going to determine which priests committed sexual abuse in the past,
and how will the public be informed? How will we know the list of offending
priests is a complete one, given the church's past attempts to keep
these allegations quiet?" she asked.
Enforcement
of the charter requires local reporting to newly created oversight agencies
at the National Conference of Bishops. Those mechanisms will be only
as effective as the information that is gathered and reported out in
each diocese.
"It
is important to understand that one of the reasons we haven't heard
more allegations is because the Catholic Church has not created an environment
that encourages people to speak out," she said.
Mangold
added that children need to know that it is all right to tell someone
when abuse has occurred, and parents need to be open to those messages
from their children. Then, they need to go to civil authorities, not
their local parish.
"A
history of strong authority and layers of secrecy in the church shouldn't
allow us to kid ourselves and believe there is not current abuse. We
cannot minimize the power exerted in a variety of ways to keep allegations
quiet," Mangold said.
"Coming
out of Dallas is the question: Have we started to create an environment
where kids and parents will come forward to report abuse by the clergy?"
Mangold asked. "What occurs at the local level in terms of changing
policies and practices holds the answer to that question."