COLUMBUS (OH)
The Columbus Dispatch
March 17, 2019
By Danae King
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus is one of only three dioceses in the country with a priest assigned to take reports of clergy sex abuse from survivors.
Several victim advocates, survivors and coordinators of victim assistance in other dioceses say having to meet with someone in the same uniform and position as the person who abused them as a child could re-traumatize survivors or dissuade from reporting abuse.
“If you’re looking at survivors, their abuse was a cleric, so you’re wanting to make sure you’re not causing further trauma because it’s someone in a collar,” said Deacon Bernie Nojadera, executive director of the Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “It’s all in the approach, in the manner the person carries out the ministry, and the competence.”
In Columbus, all reports of clergy sex abuse — which come iin as phone calls, emails and forms that the public can fill out — ggo to Monsignor Stephan Moloney, the vicar general and victim assistance coordinator.
Read more: Victims of abusive priests won’t likely see justice, expert say
Moloney, who is also the pastor of St. Andrew Parish in Upper Arlington, has been taking reports of child sex abuse by priests in the diocese since 1997. But he and many others across the country officially gained the title of victim assistance coordinator in 2002, when the conference of bishops started requiring the archdioceses and dioceses to create the position.
“I have always taken a pastoral approach to it,” Moloney said.
He said that in the past 22 years, he has taken dozens of abuse reports, including a half-dozen or so involving priests in active ministry.
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