Victims of clergy sex abuse stood next to Catholic church leaders in Minnesota on Monday to announce a settlement to a novel lawsuit that includes new measures to keep children safe.
The settlement averts a November trial of the claim that the Diocese of Winona and Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis created a public nuisance by failing to warn parishioners about an abusive priest.
"We forged a new way and that new way is an action plan — an action plan that not only protects kids in the future, but honors the pain and sorrow and grief of the survivors of the past," victims' attorney Jeff Anderson said.
Among the new protocols: Church leaders won't recommend a priest for active ministry or for a position working with minors if they've been credibly accused of sexual abuse; they won't conduct an internal investigation or "interfere in any way" with law enforcement investigations; and each clergy member will sign a declaration stating he has not abused a minor.
The measures differ from national policy set forth by U.S. bishops more than a decade ago by requiring the archdiocese to reveal the names of all abusers and documents related to their cases. They also spell out in greater detail the care the archdiocese is required to provide victims, among other provisions.
However, it is unclear how the protocols could be enforced, given that they involve the internal workings of the church.
The case accused Catholic church leaders in Minnesota of failing to warn parishioners about former priest Thomas Adamson, who has admitted in sworn testimony to abusing multiple boys over several years while serving both the diocese and archdiocese.
"We are ashamed of the horrific crimes that Thomas Adamson has perpetrated against children in our Diocese and in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis," said Winona Bishop John Quinn in a prepared statement.
"The Diocese of Winona remains committed to providing support and healing to those who have been tragically abused by clergy. We encourage anyone that has been abused recently or in the past to report the abuse to civil authorities."
At an afternoon news conference Anderson thanked the two dozen or so victims of clergy sex abuse in attendance for "your willingness to share the secret for the sake of the children."
Standing with Archdiocesan Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens and Vicar General Charles Lachowitzer, Anderson said the time for confrontation had passed and an era of cooperation and conciliation was under way.
Cozzens said the announcement was "not a publicity stunt or about a slogan," but signified a new direction for the church.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry this happened," he said, addressing the victims. "I pray that the healing of Jesus will come into broken hearts.'
Church leaders also promised not to conduct an internal investigation or "interfere in any way" with law enforcement investigations after they make a mandated report of possible child sexual abuse.
The archdiocese is backing up the agreement with the hiring of Minnesota's former top cop -- Timothy O'Malley, the former head of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension -- to oversee the handling of abuse claims as Director of Ministerial Standards.
O'Malley said that so far church leaders have been candid in answering his questions.
"How that's going to play out in the long run, I'm not going to pretend like I know. But I will tell you in the first three weeks I've been very encouraged," O'Malley said.
"Most of the child protection protocols that the Diocese of Winona has committed to have been previously adopted and implemented," according to Quinn's statement. "This agreement reaffirms the existing protocols and demonstrates our resolve and conviction to take every possible step to ensure the safety of all God’s children."
The protocols have been posted on the Diocese of Winona website, along with the diocese's entire Safe Environment Program, at dow.org/safeenvironment.
"This is an action plan," Anderson said of the agreement, "Action protects kids, not words, pledges, policies or promises."
The agreement came less than a week after Anderson's firm released more than 4,000 pages of documents from the personnel files of 14 Diocese of Winona priests credibly accused of abuse, and just weeks before the case is scheduled to go to trial.
In one of those documents, Quinn raised the possibility of the diocese facing bankruptcy as the result of existing and potential claims. Diocese officials have not denied bankruptcy as a possibility, but have said it has not been actively considered or explored and would depend largely on how many claims emerge in the next few years.
The files released detail the lives of 14 diocese priests who were “credibly accused” of abuse, the term coming from a nationwide study published in 2004 to determine the scope of clergy sex abuse that led to the lists. Collectively they have worked at 45 parishes in 44 cities across southern Minnesota. All but five are deceased, some have not been active in the diocese for decades and only one still lives in Winona. Their service at Winona-area parishes runs primarily from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, though a few continued to serve in some capacity into the 2000s.
The case would have been the first clerical sexual abuse case nationwide to use the public nuisance theory at trial, which argued that the diocese and archdiocese engaged in negligence and created a public nuisance by not reacting more aggressively to allegations of abuse and failing to notify parishioners about the priests.
The lawsuit was filed in May 2013, the first filed under a new state law that opened up a three-year window for victims of past sexual abuse to file claims that were otherwise barred under the statute of limitations.
At one point during Monday's news conference, about 20 victims of clergy abuse came forward and shook the hands of church leaders. Some couldn't hold back tears.
"The church is no longer our enemy in this. They are our ally," said Al Michaud, a victim of clergy abuse. "I'm going to admit that I'm skeptical ... but I hope everything I'm hearing today is true."