Focus Is on 'Healing' in Policy That Joins Archdiocese, Victims

By George Raine
Catholic San Francisco
September 19, 2012

http://www.catholic-sf.org/ns.php?newsid=22&id=60368

A group of survivors of sexual abuse by clergy and the Archdiocese of San Francisco have jointly created a first-of-its-kind policy on how the archdiocese can better serve victims, one that aims to engage and empower them in the healing process.

The policy is the result of collaboration, not negotiation, and to the archdiocese's knowledge it has not been replicated in any Catholic diocese in the nation, said Auxiliary Bishop Robert W. McElroy, who with Auxiliary Bishop William J. Justice joined six survivors of clergy abused to create the plan. It was approved by Archbishop George Niederauer.

In meetings over six months, the process was by design democratic, to the point there was no chairperson of the joint committee, everyone with an equal say. One product of the policy, already being implemented but only announced last week, is a wellness program that offers traditional therapeutic counseling along with alternative approaches some survivors said are very helpful, from acupuncture to nutrition to meditation to chiropractic. All are covered by the archdiocese. The policy offers mediation in lieu of a lawsuit as an option for addressing claims, and it also creates opportunities for the archdiocese to support survivor groups to further work on the healing process and expands outreach to parishioners about abuse that has occurred and what is being done to accommodating healing. Indeed, the policy is entitled "Healing the Wounds of Clergy Sexual Abuse."

"It was an effort at empowerment for the survivors, in a way really bringing them into the policy formation process in a collaborative way," said Bishop McElroy. "It makes the survivors part of our policy formation and the solution to this terrible problem in the church."

"It was an effort at empowerment for the survivors, in a way really bringing them into the policy formation process in a collaborative way," said Bishop McElroy. "It makes the survivors part of our policy formation and the solution to this terrible problem in the church."

He added, "Everybody thinks it is a pioneering method of the two groups working together to form policies within the archdiocese that will help address this glaring problem in the church in a way that empowers survivors."

One of the survivors, Paul Fericano, 61, abused when he was a 14-year-old freshman in 1965 at St. Anthony's Seminary in Santa Barbara, agreed.

Effort to cause no suffering on either side

"For the first time, survivors and bishops sat down with one another to discuss and forge new policy that governed how a large Catholic diocese would better serve those who had been hurt by the church. That's huge: Clergy abuse survivors and bishops working together to create better church policy. We did this with the resolve to do no harm and cause no suffering on either side," he said.

The idea for the policy grew out of several meetings a few years ago that Archbishop Niederauer and Bishop Justice attended with survivors of sexual abuse by clergy who live within the archdiocese. Out of those sessions evolved an ad hoc committee of survivors that subsequently worked with Archbishop Niederauer and Bishops Justice and McElroy, along with the late Barbara Elordi, who was the victim assistance coordinator at the archdiocese, to come up with joint proposals not only for outreach but for safety and protection, said Bishop McElroy.

"When we were talking to people, they said, 'We have ideas about how we can make your policies better,'" said Bishop McElroy. "So we said, 'Let's try to work together and implement some of them.'" He said one of the goals was to "empower the survivors and use their wisdom in helping the archdiocese how best to understand how to tackle this very difficult set of issues."

Agreement on six points

The survivors and archdiocese reached accord on six points but could not agree on a seventh issue – on the specifics of how to disclose the identity of those who have allegedly abused a minor – although talks continue.

Survivor Fericano, of Burlingame, a poet and writer, said all the participants were empowered, and the process was "driven largely by our common goal to do the right thing." He said he never felt he was sitting at a bargaining table. "It felt more like an educational forum where thoughts and ideas were openly discussed and examined. All of us were there to learn from each other, especially when we disagreed," said Fericano.

He said he knew reaching agreement on disclosure of alleged offenders would be difficult, but he added that the wellness program can be a model "for other dioceses willing to become partners in the healing process." He added, "I believe it reveals and provides the most comprehensive and compassionate health benefits for survivors by any diocese in the United States."

Fericano said there was some conflict associated with the committee work, but it wasn't at the table. It was with "a few, not very many, in the greater survivor community who were totally against any kind of dialogue with the bishops at all." The three bishops, in his view, "essentially got it," said Fericano. "They were there to listen to us so they could help create a policy that would help us."

Survivor on review board

Fericano and fellow ad hoc committee member John McCord, 56, of Richmond, are both survivors of abuse at the Franciscan's St. Anthony's Seminary, a Catholic vocational high school in Santa Barbara. In 2003, the two formed an association, SafeNet, now a nonprofit focusing on the healing process of all who have been victimized in the abuse crisis. McCord also serves on the Independent Review Board at the archdiocese, which reviews allegations of sexual misconduct against minors, whether by priests, deacons or laity. That appointment is the result of the new policy. It calls for "a qualified clergy abuse survivor" to be appointed to the board.

The take-away and example for other dioceses of the experience of the San Francisco joint committee, said McCord, is a snapshot of "taking steps to rebuild trust and nudge a reluctant authority of the church to look forward and be inclusive." He added, "It is about what the church can do to restore their integrity. It is about what the church can do to restore the integrity of the good priests who haven't abused anyone, who have been punished by all this." To the extent that other dioceses "take note, this is great and I am all for that," said McCord.

Other committee members and survivors are George Corns, Melinda Costello, Paul Haugen and Scott Parkhurst.