By Rachel Weaver
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
November 14, 2011
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_767163.html
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| Bishop David Zubik |
When Bishop David Zubik last month publicly denied a recent claim that he tried to kiss a Quigley High School student in the 1980s, his openness contrasted sharply with the secrecy surrounding allegations of misconduct involving other top Roman Catholic clergy.
As television cameras recorded last month's extraordinary news conference set by the diocese, Zubik invited questions from reporters because "once you've been accused, it's hard to wipe it all away," said the Rev. Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the 673,801-member Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.
"He's the bishop," Lengwin said. "The role of the bishop in the United States has been attacked for failure in handling situations properly. He needed to protect his own integrity and the integrity of the church."
Not every diocese operates so transparently, as two recent scandals demonstrate.
Bishop Robert W. Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., last month became the highest ranking member of the Roman Catholic clergy accused of a crime stemming from sex abuse charges. Authorities contend Finn acted criminally in failing to alert police to a priest with child pornography.
In February, a Philadelphia grand jury recommended prosecution of Monsignor William Lynn for child endangerment. The panel contends Lynn transferred predator priests from parish to parish, allowing them to abuse other unsuspecting children, rather than alerting police.
Transparency is key to shedding the church's longstanding stigma of secrecy, which stems from years of coverups of abusive clergy, according to experts and victim advocates.
"What helped cause the crisis was the idea bishops could make decisions about priests who they knew were sexual abusers of children and knew those decisions would never be second-guessed," said Nicholas Cafardi, a Duquesne University law professor and original member of a national board set up to advise Catholic bishops on policies for protecting young people.
Churchgoers say when the higher-ups aren't open about investigations, parishioners suffer. When watching Zubik hold his news conference, Joy Tomasic, 38, of Munhall wondered whether officials gave the bishop's case the same level of scrutiny that her pastor, the Rev. Alvin Adams, endured two years ago when he faced a claim of misconduct.
Diocesan officials in 2009 suspended Adams, 70, then pastor at Ascension Parish in Ingram and a former chaplain at Bishop Canevin High School, while they investigated a report that he abused a 16-year-old girl four decades earlier.
Adams never faced criminal charges because the statute of limitations had expired. But an independent diocesan review board determined the claim had "a semblance of truth" to it, though the board never revealed details. The diocese stripped Adams from the active ministry but permitted him to live in a diocesan community. He declined to comment for this story.
"(Father Al) was on his own," Tomasic said. "The bishop is our example. Shouldn't he do as everybody else?" She said Adams was "sent away and never heard from again, unlike the bishop."
"We couldn't believe it," she said. "We were all in shock. There were no answers."
Paul Titus, Adams' attorney, called the diocese's handling of Adams' case "totally wrong."
"If the diocese followed the same procedure they did for Bishop Zubik, Father Al would still be in active ministry," he said.
The diocese alerted Beaver County District Attorney Anthony Berosh about the claims made against Zubik. The prosecutor cleared Zubik of wrongdoing after an investigation. Berosh discounted the accusation as "a convoluted series of stories."
Accountability key
Diocesan officials say each claim of abuse goes through a specific procedure established by national and local standards.
"The first concern is the alleged victim," Lengwin said. "It wasn't that way in the past."
Victims' advocates say more church leaders should be held accountable for their responses to claims of abuse. That would be a big step toward restoring confidence in the church, they say.
"Everything else has been tried — media exposure, parishioner pressure," said former Point Breeze resident David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests based in St. Louis.
He said the prosecutions of Finn and Lynn give him hope.
Missouri law requires officials, such as clergy, to report suspected child abuse immediately. Finn pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge.
"I deeply regret that we didn't ask the police earlier to conduct a full investigation," Finn said in a statement on the diocese's website.
The Philadelphia grand jury charged three priests and a teacher with rape. Prosecutors found that 37 suspected abusers remained on duty. The archdiocese later suspended about two dozen of them.
Lynn's attorneys, Thomas Bergstrom and Jeffrey Lindy, declined to comment because of a court-imposed gag order.
Cafardi said holding bishops accountable when necessary is a "step in the right direction."
"If the church doesn't police itself, we can expect the lay civilian society will police it," he said.
Policies to follow
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sets standards for investigating abuse claims in its "Charter for the Protections of Children and Young People." Dioceses have their own policies to follow along with the nationwide standards.
The Pittsburgh diocese investigates each case, Lengwin said, even if a criminal statute of limitations has expired when someone makes a complaint. The church reports each abuse claim to the district attorney, he said, "no matter how credible or incredible it is."
The Pittsburgh diocese won't disclose how many priests it has stripped of duties because of abuse claims.
"We don't do that because the numbers don't tell the stories," Lengwin said. "We can't prove anyone is guilty."
Any priest accused of abuse can address the allegations publicly, Lengwin said.
"They can go forward anytime," Lengwin said. "We tell them to be prepared for all the questions that are going to come and they can expect the victim to come forward."
Since 2002, the Diocese of Greensburg has fielded nine complaints of sexual abuse, said spokesman Jerry Zufelt. Five of the priests were deceased when their alleged victims made the allegations, and two since have died. Church officials removed two after the district attorney investigated.
In most cases, victims of abuse contact the diocese's ministerial assistance coordinator with a claim, Lengwin said. An independent review board, made up of people with legal or counseling backgrounds and parents of abused children, considers the claim and makes a recommendation to the bishop.
The choice to remove an accused priest from active ministry, despite a lack of formal charges, stems from the need to protect potential future victims, Lengwin said.
"If there is semblance of truth, and he had allegations against him and he went out and abused another child, what do you think would happen?" he said. "The church has lost credibility, of course, but that's not the reason we do that."
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