Openness, integrity at heart of diocese abuse response

The Nov. 14 editorial page carried an article, “Catholic Church waves red flag,” from the Washington Post regarding Catholic clergy sex abuse. What has gone on among some Catholic clergy is disturbing and abhorrent, to say the least. Though not ashamed of my church, I am ashamed of the priests and bishops who have abused children and of the tepid response by some church leaders to this crisis. The Post said “Pope Francis’ ambassador in the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre … seemed to scoff at the proposal … to establish a lay commission that would assess the bishops’ misconduct.” Not really. Archbishop Pierre didn’t “scoff” at the proposal to establish a lay commission. According to Bishop Anthony Taylor of Little Rock, who was present at the bishops’ meeting in Baltimore, Pierre asked that the U.S. bishops delay a vote on the proposal until February so that all the heads of bishops’ conferences worldwide could weigh in and assure a unified global approach to the crisis. According to Taylor, the delayed vote opened up a discussion that revealed flaws in the original proposal that had not occurred to the assembled bishops. The Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, which includes the entire state of Arkansas, has not been without its abusive priests. In September Bishop Taylor published a list of 12 priests, some living, some deceased and none in active ministry, who have been credibly accused of molesting children while in service in Arkansas. Since publication of that list, 26 more allegations have surfaced, most of which were against priests in the list of 12 and none of which were against priests currently in active ministry in the diocese. Also, all the newer allegations are in regard to events that took place prior to 2002 (when allegations of faulty leadership were first leveled against Bernard Law, archbishop of Boston at that time). The Diocese of Little Rock will cooperate with the attorney general in any investigation she may wish to undertake and Bishop Taylor has turned over all relevant files to Kinsale Management Consulting, an independent firm led by a former FBI official. In the cited article from the Post, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is quoted as saying at the bishops’ meeting in last week, “Brother bishops, to exempt ourselves from this high standard of accountability is unacceptable and cannot stand. Whether we will be regarded as guardians of the abused or the abuser will be determined by our actions.” I am grateful to Bishop Taylor and other church leaders who are handling this terrible situation with openness, integrity and concern for the victims. REV. DAVID LESIEUR Rogers