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| Diocese Should Agree to Two More Audits Nashua Telegraph [New Hampshire] May 7, 2007 http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070507/OPINION01/205070330/-1/OPINION02 The latest audit report on the Diocese of Manchester's progress in developing and complying with policies on reporting alleged sexual abuse of minors and in developing preventive practices is both promising and disturbing. There's good news because Attorney General Kelly Ayotte reported that the diocese has corrected "substantial deficiencies" in its sexual misconduct policies during the past year. Included in those deficiencies were gaps in the reporting policy for alleged abuse, a failure to complete criminal background checks on people who work with children and poor oversight of parishes. The discouraging part of the report was Ayotte's observation that the diocese still has work to do on record keeping, it still retains on paper an unacceptable policy that allows Bishop John McCormack to first determine whether an allegation against someone is truthful before removing the alleged offender from contact with a minor and a disagreement over how many more annual audits of the diocese's implementation of previously agreed to policies will be done. Also disturbing was Ayotte's comment that the Rev. Edward Arsenault, diocesan chancellor whose job it is to implement reporting policies for alleged sexual abuse and to develop programs to prevent such incidences, has developed an attitude problem. The attorney general said Arsenault has a lack of "acceptance or commitment," he plays "word games" with the auditor and the "tone at the top" worries members of her office. Arsenault takes issue with those observations. We'd say once again there needs to be a regime change at the diocese, starting with Bishop McCormack, to put this sexual abuse chapter in the diocese's history well into the past by following through with sound preventive policies. The diocese also shouldn't quibble about participating in two more annual audits through 2009. The diocese and the state agreed in 2002 that there would be five annual reviews by the end of 2007, but the process was delayed for two years while the diocese and the attorney general's office went to court to work out details and cost. During that court case, the diocese and the state reduced the number of audits to four. Arsenault wants the state to wrap up the reviews by the end of 2007. So far, two have been done. Bunching up two more from now until the end of the year doesn't respect the intent of the agreement. No one likes having an outside auditor peering over one's shoulder, and Arsenault is taking much of the heat for implementing the terms of the 2002 agreement. Given the history of the church and the secrecy that protected priests who sexually abused minors, keeping the heat on for two more years is a way to prevent backsliding. It's a matter of keeping the diocese's feet to the fire until new reporting and prevention policies are complete and have become an ingrained way of life. |
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