NEW HAMPSHIRE
Nashua Telegraph
By ALBERT McKEON, Telegraph Staff
mckeona@telegraph-nh.com
Published: Sunday, Feb. 20, 2005
An internal audit of sexual abuse policies produced results that leaders of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester liked to hear.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops not only found the diocese in full compliance with its national child protection policies, but it credited the church in New Hampshire for taking additional steps not required.
This local review, publicly released Friday, was part of a broader survey to examine whether the country’s 195 dioceses follow the policies that the bishops enacted almost three years ago in response to widespread fallout from the abuse crisis.
State prosecutors would also like to study how the Manchester diocese handles abuse, but the church and state have not seen eye to eye on the audit’s scope. A Hillsborough County Superior court judge has the case under advisement after attorneys for both sides presented their views last month.
The state attorney general’s office wants to interview anyone who would use the diocese’s procedures - not just employees, but also laypeople who volunteer. Church officials claim the scope of that process would cross a constitutional boundary.
Posted by kshaw at February 20, 2005 08:10 AM