Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
I promised to keep you informed about events facing our local Church.

Some of you have called to ask questions about your gifts to the Catholic Services Appeal. In light of the civil litigation the Archdiocese faces, you want to know how your donations will be handled. These are important and legitimate questions, and I want to be clear in my response.

Gifts to the CSA support the mission of Jesus — the mission to heal, to reach out to the poor, to evangelize and educate, to pray and to serve. Enclosed is a brochure that outlines some of the ministries and programs made possible by your generosity.

Your donations to the 2002 CSA will be used to fund ministries and services that address religious, educational, and social service needs in our Church and community. Gifts will not be used for legal fees or settlements. These expenses will be handled through funds from our investments and possibly insurance.

In the weeks ahead, you will be hearing more about this year’s CSA campaign from me and from your pastor.

The September 2 report summarizes the implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and reviews recent legal issues. We continue to reach out to victims who are coming to us directly. As we work through the legal process, we also are developing outreach programs for plaintiffs once the lawsuits are resolved. I look forward to the opportunity to sit down with each person who has been hurt and ask for forgiveness.

Thank you for your prayerful support of your parish and our local Church. Please continue to keep all victims of sexual abuse in your prayers. You are in mine.

Devotedly yours in Christ,

 

 

Archbishop of Louisville

Report to the Catholic People, Part II– Restoring Trust

This report summarizes our implementation to date (August 23) of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and reviews legal issues facing the Archdiocese.  

Archdiocesan Policies: The 1993 archdiocesan sex abuse policies are being revised to conform to the Charter. We have collected policies from other dioceses and are reviewing them for helpful suggestions.  The new Sexual Abuse Review Board will review the policies before they are published.  The policies will be widely distributed when they are ready this fall.

Archdiocese of Louisville Sexual Abuse Review Board: Archbishop Kelly has appointed nine individuals to a new review board.  This Board will assist Archbishop Kelly in assessing allegations and fitness for ministry and will review diocesan policies and procedures for dealing with sexual abuse of minors.  The members are:

Dr. Paulette F. Adams, Professor of Nursing, University of Louisville

Dr. Jean D. Koehler, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

Mr. John Laun, Attorney and Former Judge  (Mr. Laun is the chairperson of the Board.)

Ms. Lynnie Meyer, President, The Center for Women and Families

Dr. Brian B. Reynolds, Chancellor, Archdiocese of Louisville

Reverend Paul Scaglione, Director, Office of Pastoral Care, Archdiocese of Louisville

Very Reverend J. Mark Spalding, Judicial Vicar, Archdiocese of Louisville

Dr. Gerald F. Sturgeon, Pediatrician

Sex Abuse Victim Assistance: Two archdiocesan staff persons (Dr. Brian Reynolds and Deacon Brian Karley) serve as contacts for victims who wish to report concerns.  Dr. Reynolds, Deacon Karley, and Archbishop Kelly regularly make themselves available to meet with victims.  For years the Archdiocese has offered counseling services to assist victims in the healing process. Many more have benefited from counseling services since we publicly requested victims to come forward last spring.

We established a resource and referral service with the University of Louisville’s Kent School of Social Work for those victims who cannot (because of litigation) or prefer not to communicate directly with the Archdiocese. A number of victims have begun to seek counseling through the University of Louisville Kent School Partnership. Victims receive six months of counseling assistance and more if needed.  The Archdiocese pays for the counseling through a voucher system; victims’ names are not released to the diocese.

The counseling staff of the Catholic Family Center has worked with several parishes and schools that have been directly affected by this crisis and has been present at parish atonement services and listening sessions. The Catholic Family Center began support groups for individual Catholics and for priests. For more information about the support group for individuals, called “Healing the Hearts of Catholics,” call 636-1044.

Priest Assignment: The Charter states that all priests who have a substantiated accusation of abuse – past, present, or future – will be permanently removed from public ministry.  Since the Charter was adopted, two priests in the Archdiocese of Louisville have been removed from ministry.  The process of permanently removing a priest from the clerical state is reserved for the Holy Father, and Archbishop Kelly will wait for Vatican response to the new norms before beginning this process.

Reporting and Cooperation with Civil Authorities: We have cooperated fully with civil authorities on criminal investigations of child abuse involving priests or Church employees. As has been our practice, all reports of child abuse involving children are immediately reported to Child Protective Services.  When adults come forward about abuse that happened when they were children, we encourage victims to report the incidents to police and offer to assist them with the reporting.

Prevention/Safe Environment Programs:  Screening: Church employees and volunteers who serve youth have been the subject of criminal background checks and screening procedures for a number of years.  Candidates for the priesthood also undergo a criminal background check and rigorous screening by both the Archdiocese and the seminary.  In light of the Charter, personnel policies and procedures are being reviewed to make sure the appropriate safeguards are in place and will be revised as needed.

Resources and Training: The Office of Lifelong Formation and Education prepared a comprehensive resource packet on sex abuse education and prevention for schools and parish religious education programs.  This packet summarizes curriculum already in place and suggests additional resources.  We will be hosting additional training opportunities for parish and school staffs on the detection of sex abuse and appropriate boundaries for ministers during the 2002-2003 school year.

Legal Issues:  Criminal investigations have resulted in two arrests.  The Archdiocese is fully cooperating with the police and Commonwealth Attorney’s office.
Last month the Archdiocese filed its first “answers” to the lawsuits. In its answers, the Archdiocese stipulates which facts it knows to be true and states which facts it denies, pending the collection of further information.  This process is guided by the rules of law in which both plaintiffs and defendants have rights and responsibilities. These answers have been accompanied by “interrogatories,” which request further information from each plaintiff. We were very careful to limit the questions in the interrogatories to information that is relevant to the damage being claimed and the compensation being sought.

By filing these answers, the Archdiocese is not denying that a particular victim may have been hurt, but is beginning the information-gathering process. Civil litigation requires the collection of information in order to reach a just resolution, and this is the only way we can communicate with the plaintiffs. While the Archdiocese cannot communicate directly with plaintiffs, they can receive counseling through our partnership with the Kent School.

Conclusion: We pledge to continue to reach out and support victims of sexual abuse.  All Catholics are asked to pray for healing and reconciliation for those who have been hurt by the Church and for the priests who serve us. Catholics have been very generous in their affirmation of our priests. Initiatives like “thankyoufather.com,” a web page created by a group of local Catholics, demonstrate the support Catholics feel for priests.

 

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