SEATTLE (WA)
Seattle Times
By Terrence Carroll
Special to The Times
Having completed service last year as chairman of the Archdiocese of Seattle board that reviewed allegations of the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, I remain concerned about the direction of matters since our case-review board's report was made public last fall.
I write in the hope that the bold promises of the Dallas Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People — published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and containing the guidelines that led to the creation of case-review boards across the country — are completely realized.
I acknowledge the progress that has been made by our archdiocese, but believe that more needs to be done.
To begin with, secrecy continues to shadow the process we were led to believe would be open and transparent. Some cases reviewed by the Seattle board in 2003 still have no final resolution. Because the archdiocese has decided to wait on these cases until the Vatican acts (whenever that might be, and behind closed doors), the victims who came forward and all parishoners must continue to wait.