Church Officials Outline Policies

By Rachel Weaver
Tribune-Review
July 25, 2012

http://triblive.com/news/2265337-74/diocese-abuse-catholic-church-lengwin-allegation-allegations-constant-officials-zufelt

Sex-abuse scandals in the past decade have given religious leaders a greater understanding of how to handle allegations, say Roman Catholic Church officials in Western Pennsylvania.

"There is no 'cure' for this," said the Rev. Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. "This is not something where you can simply send them away to a treatment center and put them in another parish assignment."

Individual dioceses set policies for handling abuse allegations, to use in conjunction with national standards of The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

The Pittsburgh diocese put most of its practices in place in the late 1980s, Lengwin said.

Within one day of receiving a complaint, the diocese reports the allegation to the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, "even if it doesn't seem like anything credible," Lengwin said.

Church officials tell members of the parish about the accusations and encourage people to call a national hotline to report abuse. The diocese does not keep any allegation confidential, but it won't say how many allegations of abuse it has received.

"We need to act on it," Lengwin said. "You can't come forward confidentially."

If the accused priest denies the claim, it goes to an independent review board — composed of people with legal or counseling backgrounds and parents of abused children — which makes a recommendation to the bishop.

Jerry Zufelt, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg, said combatting abuse requires "constant training, constant vigilance, constant awareness."

The diocese requires any employee and volunteer who has contact with children to undergo training to recognize and respond to improper behavior, he said. They also undergo criminal background checks.

"This is ongoing," Zufelt said. "This is not something that ended in 2002."

Since 2002, the Greensburg diocese has fielded nine complaints of sexual abuse, Zufelt said. Five of the alleged attackers were deceased when people made the accusations. Two since have died. The church removed two after investigations by the district attorney.