BishopAccountability.org
	Zubik Denies Coverup Accusation By Megan J. Miller Beaver County Times December 23, 2010 http://www.timesonline.com/bct_news/news_details/article/1373/2010/december/22/zubik-denies-coverup-accusation.html [letter to the U.S. Attorney's office] [statement from the Green Bay diocese] [Fr. John Doerfler deposition] PITTSBURGH — A victim advocacy group is pressing for a federal investigation of Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik over claims that his policies led to the destruction of evidence of sexual abuse by clergy in Wisconsin. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests on Tuesday asked U.S. Attorney James Santelle to investigate what it called obstruction of justice by Zubik because of a policy of destroying some personnel records for priests at his former diocese in Green Bay. "If you're destroying evidence, you're obstructing justice," said John Pilmaier, co-director or SNAP Wisconsin. "Whether it's psychological reports, handwritten notes, memos — these are all evidence of a crime that's taken place." Zubik, an Economy native, was named bishop of the Pittsburgh diocese in 2007. Prior to that, he served as bishop of the Green Bay diocese starting in 2003. He's now under scrutiny for a recordkeeping policy he approved in Green Bay in 2006, according to the deposition of the Rev. John Doerfler, chancellor and vicar general of that diocese. Doerfler was deposed Nov. 5 in the case of a Las Vegas man suing for alleged abuse by clergy. According to a copy of the deposition obtained by The Times, Doerfler said that the policy called for destroying personnel records of priests in certain circumstances, such as treatment records in cases where priests received psychological treatment. Doerfler said that was done to comply with medical patient privacy law. The policy also called for destroying everything except basic biographical information on priests who had been dead for more than one year. That included destroying the records of dead priests who had been accused of sexual abuse, Doerfler said. He testified that records were preserved only in cases where a legal claim was already pending against an individual priest. Pilmaier said the policy is "disturbing on a legal and a moral level." "Most victims never come forward. It can take decades for them to do so," he said. "When they do, they're looking for answers ... and you've just erased that history." On Tuesday, Zubik issued a written statement denying the SNAP allegations. "There was never an order issued by me — nor anyone else — to destroy documents or evidence contained in the files of priests accused of abuse while I served as bishop of Green Bay," Zubik said. "To the contrary, it had been diocesan practice in Green Bay not to destroy documents in priest files — even after a priest had died — if there was litigation involving that priest or any pending claims." Doerfler testified that the diocese records policy was approved by Zubik in 2006 and implemented in 2007, but had been in development since 2001. Pilmaier said he's concerned that the destruction of records corresponded with a 2007 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision to allow abuse victims to pursue a lawsuit against church officials if they could demonstrate that they were victimized because the archdiocese had covered up prior knowledge of an abusive priest. Before that, Wisconsin law had protected the church from such suits under the First Amendment.
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