Archdiocesan Policies Regarding Priests with Pedophilia Continue to Evolve By Dan Portman The Progress June 2, 1988 Recent publicity about placing an archdiocesan priest with a history of pedophilia into a parish has highlighted the difficulties involved in handling pedophilia cases, said Father George Thomas, archdiocesan chancellor Pedophilia is the condition in adults of sexual attraction to children. “The hard question that we still have to face is, ‘Can a priest with a known history of pedophilia ever be returned to active ministry?’’’ Father Thomas said. The problem came to light two weeks ago when a woman revealed on a local television show that she knew of a pedophiliac priest living in a parish in Federal Way. The priest, Father James McGreal, had been placed at St. Theresa parish a year ago. Father Joseph Kramis, pastor of St. Theresa’s, and some parish staff members knew of Father McGreal’s history, but the rest of the parish was not informed. Father McGreal’s activities at the parish were specifically restricted. Among those limits were the rules that he was not to visit any families with children under the age of 24, participate in any parish activities for children or talk to young people or their parents. He could not attend coffee hours after Mass and he continued regular treatment from professional counselors. At a parish meeting last week, Father Kramis said he kept Father McGreal’s history concealed as a matter of confidentiality. But many parishioners claimed they had a right to know about Father McGreal’s condition, so that they might protect their children from being molested. Father Kramis admitted that, in hindsight, the choice of secrecy was not the best decision. Father Thomas points out, though, that the archdiocese has consistently handled pedophilia cases according to the current understanding of the disease among medical professionals. Policies for priestly pedophilia have changed since Father McGreal’s condition was first made known to Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen in 1977, he explained. “We were operating at that time with very limited knowledge about the problems of pedophilia,” Father Thomas said. “It was not understood as a life-long disorder, and treatment was thought of as tantamount to a cure.” Professionals now say that pedophiles need continuing counseling and supervision throughout their lives, he said.  “The missing piece in the former treatment was the after-care and supervision.” In line with the newer understandings of the disorder, and in response to the public revelations about Father McGreal, the archdiocese is now striving “to break the cycle of silence that perpetuates abuse in the human family,” the archbishop said in a pastoral letter last week. Pastors were asked to read the archbishop’s letter at all Masses last Sunday.  At the same time, any person who has been victimized by a priest in the archdiocese has been invited to contact Father Thomas directly or through his or her pastor. The archdiocese will provide appropriate pastoral care to all victims of priest pedophilia, in line with its stated policy of care for those victims. In his letter, Archbishop Hunthausen declared, “We wish to create a new atmosphere based on education and dialogue, so that the problem of abuse and exploitation will become a distant chapter in our past.” A formal policy for dealing with pedophilia in church employees was released by the archdiocese in February, and a six-member consulting group is in place to advise the archbishop and update the policy as medical professionals learn more about the disorder. “We’re particularly fortunate to be in a very progressive medical community and very progressive social services community (in Seattle),” Father Thomas noted. The consulting group includes Father Thomas and another priest, a psychotherapist counselor, a psychoanalyst, an attorney and an advocate for pedophilia victims.  The chancellor said members of the group have asked not to have their names revealed. While the group will draw from the work of experts in the field of pedophilia, the archdiocese also learns from experiences such as the recent publicity about Father McGreal, said Father Thomas. “What we learned from this whole process was to get involved with the parish very early,” he said. Some parishioners at St. Theresa’s who pushed the archdiocese to reveal Father McGreal’s history will get a chance to meet with Archbishop Hunthausen soon, he added. Two priests in the archdiocese are known pedophiles.  Both are receiving counseling from Northwest Treatment Associates, a counseling agency on contract with the archdiocese. The archdiocese has not disclosed the name of the second priest. “We feel that it is unnecessary to reveal his identity,” Father Thomas explained, noting that the priest is not living in a parish or doing active priestly work, has cooperated with counseling and receives continuing supervision. A third priest, Father Paul Conn, former parochial vicar of Queen of Angels parish in Port Angeles, was charged with child molesting in April and faces a trial this summer. The chancellor noted that Father McGreal was consulted before archdiocesan officials decided to reveal his name. “When the media chose to reveal all the places he’d worked, a cloud of suspicion was over other priests (who had been assigned to those places),” he said. Father McGreal was removed from St. Theresa’s last week.  A decision has yet to be made on future placement for him. Many members of the parish asked at last week’s meeting that he be allowed to stay, but others said they wished to have him removed for the safety of children in the parish. Archdiocesan officials will determine Father McGreal’s placement in consultation with the six-member panel and with the parish, said Father Thomas. In the meantime, policy must be refined to deal with the general question of pedophilia among priests, he noted. It’s a particularly tricky issue, he pointed out, because priests are more than employees of the archdiocese.  Their vows tie them to the church much like marital vows tie husband and wife. “You can suspend, you can limit faculties, but he’s still yours,” the chancellor said.

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