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	Review Board Chair Says Philadelphia Church Leaders Lacked Openness By Dennis Sadowski U.S. Catholic May 17, 2011 http://www.uscatholic.org/news/2011/05/review-board-chair-says-philadelphia-church-leaders-lacked-openness The head of the Philadelphia archdiocesan review board that helps determine whether allegations of clergy sex abuse are credible accused Cardinal Justin Rigali and other bishops in the archdiocese of failing "miserably at being open and transparent" in their dealings with board members. Writing May 12 in Commonweal magazine, Ana Maria Catanzaro said canon lawyers from the archdiocese often pressed board members -- at times in heated debates -- to limit their deliberations to whether canonical statutes were broken rather than considering allegations in light of the stricter guidelines under civil criminal laws. The archdiocese said in a May 17 statement that its understanding of the best way to investigate and act on abuse allegations, especially those not pursued by civil authorities, has continuously changed over the years. "Despite all the work that has been done, there is clearly much more to do," the statement said. "Our focus over the past several months has been on taking the necessary action steps to improve that process from beginning to end." The statement pointed to the hiring of Albert Toczydlowski, a former deputy district attorney in Philadelphia, to the new position of delegate for investigations. He is charged with immediately reporting new allegations to law enforcement officials, investigating suspected abuse and ensuring that allegations are properly reported to the review board, the statement said. An archdiocesan investigation will move forward only after law enforcement officials have completed their investigation, it added. In a detailed account, Catanzaro, director of the graduate nursing program at Holy Family University in Philadelphia, charged that it appears that clericalism guided church leaders' decisions on abuse allegations in an effort to protect clergy. "When will bishops exemplify the teaching of 'Lumen Gentium' that laity and clergy are equally responsible for building God's kingdom on earth? What will it take for bishops to accept that their attitude of superiority and privilege only harms their image and the church's?" she wrote. "Lumen Gentium" ("Light of the Nations") is the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. Catanzaro did not return messages seeking additional comment. She explained that her article was written to address what went wrong in the review board process. Her response came weeks after the grand jury issued a stinging report questioning the work of the review board and the actions of the archdiocese in its handling of clergy accused of abuse. The report followed the indictments in February of a former priest, three current priests and a former parochial school teacher on charges of sexually abusing or failing to protect children. An additional 21 priests were placed on administrative leave March 7 by Cardinal Rigali as the archdiocese responded to the grand jury inquiry. In its report, the grand jury criticized the review board for not recommending the suspension of 37 priests who later were indicted or placed on leave. Catanzaro said the grand jury's judgment "stunned" review board members. She also said the grand jury never asked board members to testify about its role in handling abuse allegations. She explained that the review board looked at just 10 cases involving the 37 priests and the information shared by church officials led members to conclude that no abuse occurred. In addition, Catanzaro offered several recommendations to the archdiocese and to review boards across the U.S. They included placing clergy on administrative leave immediately after it is determined that an allegation of inappropriate behavior or sexual abuse has any semblance of truth; referring all abuse allegations to review boards; considering a review board's work as outside of a canonical process; and calling "problematic" so-called "safety plans" under which a priest supervises a cleric who is allowed to remain in ministry under close supervision and have no unsupervised access to minors. She also recommended having religious orders report findings of their investigations of abuse allegations to local bishops even though bishops have no authority to investigate such allegations; and changing how allegations are investigated so that the process is open and each diocese publishes an annual report detailing credible allegations, the work of the review board and the whereabouts of priests permanently removed from ministry.
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