I begin with four Failures. Failures by men like you and me, failures by the Church and failures which have occurred in just the past nine weeks.
A Director of a Newman Apostlate in Saint Cloud was arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct in the third degree under a state law which makes it a crime for a member of clergy to engage in a sexual relationship with someone they are counseling spiritually or religiously. An elderly Priest in Boise and long-time advocate for victims of child sexual abuse, was arrested on charges of possession of child pornography and drug possession.
A Priest in Lansing, pastor of the same Church for over thirty years was arrested on charges of embezzling more than five million dollars. While just one month ago today, a pastor in Saginaw was indicted on multiple charges of criminal sexual conduct with teenagers, distribution of a controlled substance, and selling or furnishing alcohol to a minor. The 71 year old priest faces a maximum of 22 years in prison.
Each of these crimes is a tragedy. For the victims, first of all, but also for the Church and for the man who has been arrested and jailed. His active life as a priest is over, and there is plenty of tragedy to go around.
Which is why, as you prepare to leave for parishes this summer, I recommend to your reading and study our Bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Young People” and “Complimentary Norms,” as well as the Diocesan Codes of Conduct which every priest, deacon and seminarian are subject to in the course of their ministry,
Each of our sending Dioceses have Codes of Conduct for Clergy and Lay Personnel, and I have redacted a copy of all of them which you will find at your places. I urge you to read your own Diocesan Code carefully so that you might follow the directives your Bishop has adopted for the Church in your area.
All of the Codes are a variation on the Virtus Model, which is found in the appendix of the document before you. The Virtus Code was developed in consultation with the USCCB Office of Child Protection.
While each of the codes differ, sometimes even in title, there are some common elements that run throughout in regard to:
1. Screening and Training
2. Working with Children
3. Respecting the Dignity of Every Child
4. Alcohol and Drugs
5. Reporting Abuse
1. Screening and Training
First, there’s Criminal background checks - conducted once every three years. Commonly called CORI checks (Criminal Offender Record Information), these searches of Court records look for arrests or convictions in State and Federal jurisdictions.
The VIRTUS program is used in almost all Dioceses in the United States and assists the Church in assuring that: Child abuse is not tolerated,, Children are vigilantly protected, Victims are listened to, heard, and shielded from further abuse, and Offenders are identified and punished.
A Director of a Newman Apostlate in Saint Cloud was arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct in the third degree under a state law which makes it a crime for a member of clergy to engage in a sexual relationship with someone they are counseling spiritually or religiously. An elderly Priest in Boise and long-time advocate for victims of child sexual abuse, was arrested on charges of possession of child pornography and drug possession.
A Priest in Lansing, pastor of the same Church for over thirty years was arrested on charges of embezzling more than five million dollars. While just one month ago today, a pastor in Saginaw was indicted on multiple charges of criminal sexual conduct with teenagers, distribution of a controlled substance, and selling or furnishing alcohol to a minor. The 71 year old priest faces a maximum of 22 years in prison.
Each of these crimes is a tragedy. For the victims, first of all, but also for the Church and for the man who has been arrested and jailed. His active life as a priest is over, and there is plenty of tragedy to go around.
Which is why, as you prepare to leave for parishes this summer, I recommend to your reading and study our Bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Young People” and “Complimentary Norms,” as well as the Diocesan Codes of Conduct which every priest, deacon and seminarian are subject to in the course of their ministry,
Each of our sending Dioceses have Codes of Conduct for Clergy and Lay Personnel, and I have redacted a copy of all of them which you will find at your places. I urge you to read your own Diocesan Code carefully so that you might follow the directives your Bishop has adopted for the Church in your area.
All of the Codes are a variation on the Virtus Model, which is found in the appendix of the document before you. The Virtus Code was developed in consultation with the USCCB Office of Child Protection.
While each of the codes differ, sometimes even in title, there are some common elements that run throughout in regard to:
1. Screening and Training
2. Working with Children
3. Respecting the Dignity of Every Child
4. Alcohol and Drugs
5. Reporting Abuse
1. Screening and Training
First, there’s Criminal background checks - conducted once every three years. Commonly called CORI checks (Criminal Offender Record Information), these searches of Court records look for arrests or convictions in State and Federal jurisdictions.
The VIRTUS program is used in almost all Dioceses in the United States and assists the Church in assuring that: Child abuse is not tolerated,, Children are vigilantly protected, Victims are listened to, heard, and shielded from further abuse, and Offenders are identified and punished.
2. Working with Children and Youth
So when working with children and youth, your Diocesan Professional Standards recommend five basic rules:
Be a positive Catholic Christian role model.
Each time a child goes to Church he is told to sit quietly with his parents and respectfully listen to what the Priest says about God and about life and about what is right and wrong. They look at him with pride when he shakes the priest’s hand on the front steps. It is no wonder that younger children look to the priest with a trustful and almost worshipful gaze. The two or three year old Church-going child is likely to believe not only that you work for God, but that you are God.
The identification of the Priest with the presence of the Church was brought home to me years ago when, making the round of First Communion parties, I walked into one communicant’s home. She was in the front years playing with her friends. When she saw me, she ran inside the house and announced “The Church is here! The Church is here!”
Now just imagine what that’s like for a child who is abused by the Priest she thinks is God. Or the Priest who thinks is the Church. That single act of abuse has not only broken the soul of the child, but her ability to trust in the Church and even in God, perhaps for the rest of her life.
Establish and maintain clear boundaries.
Remember that meaning is in the mind of the perceiver, and the mind of a child is a marginal world where the boundaries between play and life, fantasy and reality are easily blurred.
The child is not your friend. The adolescent cannot be your companion. A child is, by definition, vulnerable, easily confused and easily broken. The unconditional love which is the right of every child means that purity, trust and mature and unselfish love must move the shepherd’s heart.
Use discretion concerning settings.
The Church steps, the classroom, the parish office, and the Children’s choir rehearsal are appropriate settings for your interactions with children. Your office with the door closed, the Rectory, a school basement or anywhere else where you are alone with a child is not an appropriate setting.
Three ingredients are needed to make the abuse of a child possible: a vulnerable victim, a motivated perpetrator and the opportunity to commit the abuse. By removing the opportunity, the potential for abuse is eliminated. Likewise, the possibility of false accusations is greatly diminished.
Use discretion concerning physical contact.
You’re standing on the front steps of the Church and a kid runs up and hugs you. What do you do? You hug him, as Jesus would have. In front of his parents and friends and the whole parish. Standing on the front steps of the Church I am asked to bless a child. I place my hand on his head and pray for him. In front of his parents and friends and the whole parish.
Beyond that, I need to always recall that physical expressions are replete with a variety of meanings, each of which are conditioned by the mind of the perceiver. The very needy middle aged woman in a marriage falling apart whom you are counseling may want you to hug her because she feels alone and afraid and is desperate for affection. But she may be looking for an expression of something different than you should be willing to give.
Like spoken language, physical expressions of affection or solidarity are interpreted by different folks in different ways, and just because you mean one thing, does not mean it is perceived by everyone in the same way.
This includes onlookers. Don’t be surprised when your nephew, a junior in High School, runs up to you and hugs you that you get scowls and suspicious looks. The abuse committed by some of our brothers has greatly compromised our ability to work with children and youth and we need to be cautious, very very cautious about what we say in word and in gesture.
Be self-aware and use prudent behavior.
Know yourself. And to your own self be true. You are a seminarian or a priest. Act like it. Wherever you are, with whomever you are. Never act on impulse or out of the fulfillment of some unfelt need. Be prudent and through your constant work with your spiritual director and counselors, be self-aware about what your needs are and how you are appropriately meeting them.
3. Respecting the dignity of every child
It’s obvious, or at least it should be:
Never strike, shake or slap a child.
Never intimidate or harass, physically, verbally, in writing, psychologically, socially or electronically
Never give a gift to a young person without prior approval from your pastor or a parent/ guardian.
Never meet privately with a young person Never be alone with a young person in a residence, sleeping facility, locker room, rest room, dressing facility or other closed room or isolated area.
Never drive alone with a young person without explicit parental or guardian consent, and even then, always take two adults along.
4. Alcohol and Drugs
Never provide alcohol, controlled substances or pornographic materials to young people. Now that may seem obvious, but remember that even the showing of a single pornographic image to a minor can bring harm to a vulnerable child and will end your active ministry for the rest of your life.
Never consume alcohol or controlled substances while participating in a youth activity. No alcoholic beverages will be accessible or served during events which are designed specifically for children and/or youth. A very high percentage of priest perpetrators report that they were under the influence of alcohol each time they committed an act of abuse.
5. Reporting Abuse
Always report abuse or inappropriate activities involving a minor to civil and ecclesial authorities, unless your knowledge is bound by the Seal of Confession. The abuse of a child is a crime and you are a mandated reporter in all the states which send seminarians to this Seminary. Which means that you are subject to criminal penalties if you suspect abuse and do not report it.
And it goes with out saying that you always cooperate fully with Diocesan and/or law enforcement personnel in any investigation of abuse of children and/or youth. They are there to protect children and to seek justice, and that should be your constant goal as well.
Conclusion
So, why am I telling you all this, and why now? Well, first, because originally when this happened it was because the seminaries dropped the ball. And that’s why every year before you go out to parishes for the summer and next Fall for an intensive day, we will continue to explore these issues and learn how we can, in the word of Saint John Paul II be “bridges to Christ and not obstacles.”
Second, because I have met men and women who have been victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Priests, and the crimes which they have suffered, the sins which have scarred them are preventable. And future potential victims are my responsibility as your Rector. It is an enormous responsibility which I take with the greatest seriousness and you should too.
So, as they used to say on Hill Street Blues (a reference evidently too old for this audience), “Be careful out there.” There are hundreds of God’s children whom you have never known who will meet Christ in you this summer. Exercise all the virtues in leading them to him, including the virtue of prudence.
But over all these put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity in Christ (Cf. Colossians 3:14.).
