Audit Confirms Diocese in Compliance With
Charter To Protect Children
 

The Diocese of Scranton has again been found to be in compliance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, enacted in 2002 by the United States bishops to address the issue of sexual abuse of minors by clergy.

The compliance was confirmed following a visit to the Diocese by representatives of The Gavin Group, Inc., which has been commissioned by the National Review Board to conduct yearly audits of all dioceses to ensure they are adhering to the provisions of the Charter. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops formed the National Review Board to oversee the implementation of the Charter.

Each of the annual audits has confirmed the Diocese of Scranton’s compliance with the Charter.

The Catholic Church’s efforts to eradicate sexual abuse, a problem that plagues all of society, are having a major positive impact. In 2007, there were 12 credible instances of minors being abused by clerics in the United States . None of these occurred in the Diocese of Scranton.

Bishop Blase J. Cupich, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, said he was grateful for such a small number in a church of 67 million people, but he stressed that “we dare not become complacent. The effects of the sin and crime of sexual abuse by a cleric are so horrific that we need to make sure that efforts to protect young people continue.”

From 2003 through 2007, he reported, the Catholic Church in the United States trained more than 1.8 million clergy, employees and volunteers in parishes in how to create safe environments and prevent child sexual abuse. More than 5.8 million children were taught how to recognize abuse and how to protect themselves. Criminal background checks were conducted on more than 1,535,000 volunteers and employees, 162,700 educators, 51,000 clerics and 4,955 candidates for ordination.

“This is a record of accomplishment that deserves to be widely known, and expanded by our ongoing commitment,” Bishop Cupich said.

The Diocese of Scranton established a policy to deal with sexual abuse of minors by clergy in 1993, well before the issue received widespread public attention. After the national Charter was promulgated in 2002, the Diocese refined its policy accordingly.

The Diocese hired a Victim Assistance Coordinator to provide outreach and confidential services to victims, and revised the membership of its Review Board that assesses allegations and advises the Bishop. The procedures and process for filing complaints have been published in brochures, in The Catholic Light, on the Diocesan website and in all parish bulletins.

The Diocesan policy requires reporting of all allegations of sexual abuse of a minor to civil authorities, no matter the current age of the victim; and the Diocese has a clear policy that addresses the process of dealing with complaints, including a prompt preliminary investigation and placing the accused priest on administrative leave. The Diocese requires that, when sexual abuse is admitted or established, the offending priest is permanently removed from ministry.

The Diocese also established a Code of Pastoral Conduct to ensure that proper behavior is fostered whenever children and all members of the faithful gather for spiritual, educational or social activities conducted under the auspices of the Church. It also provides guidelines for the conduct of pastoral counselors and spiritual directors.

The code covers a range of situations and issues, including sexual and other forms of physical conduct, settings for meetings and counseling sessions, harassment of any kind (sexual, physical, mental, verbal, racial or ethnic), the nature of relationships, conflicts of interest, and reporting ethical or professional misconduct.

The national Charter also mandates that all employees and volunteers receive training on how to create safe environments for children and young people.

The Diocese has been using the VIRTUS sexual abuse awareness and prevention program, “Protecting God’s Children,” to fulfill this requirement.

The program was introduced in the spring of 2003 and is ongoing. It trains priests, deacons, candidates for ordination, Diocesan and parish staff members, teachers, coaches, and volunteers how to recognize and report child sexual abuse. Although the audit does not require an accounting for parents who were trained, when these are included the total number of people trained by the Diocese now exceeds 17,800.

The Diocese has also implemented a safe environment program for students in grades K-10 to teach them how to recognize and avoid situations that could lead to sexual abuse. It also encourages communication between children and their parents so that dangerous situations and incidents are reported promptly.

The VIRTUS “Teaching Touching Safety” program is designed specifically for children. It has been offered to students in Diocesan Catholic schools for the past five years. A similar program is provided in the public schools as required by the Pennsylvania State Educational Association. As of June 30, 54,868 students in Catholic and public schools have received the instruction.

This fall the Diocese began introducing safe environment lessons in its parish religious education programs. Henceforth the VIRTUS “Teaching Touching Safety” Program will be offered in religious education classes to complement the safe environment programs used by public schools.

Another provision of the national Charter is that all employees in parishes and schools, as well as volunteers who spend 20 or more hours per year with children, must have up-to-date criminal background and child abuse clearances. This includes coaches, who are reminded that no practice may be held until these clearances have been received.

Previously, the Diocese used the Pennsylvania State Police and Childline clearances to fulfill the background check requirement. As of January 2008, the Diocese now uses a more comprehensive background screening process through ChoicePoint VolunteerSelect, which provides a national criminal search, social security verification, and a sex offender registry search. 

Gail Fromm was hired as Diocesan compliance officer in 2006 to assist pastors and school administrators to comply with this requirement. Information packets have been provided, and workshops were held in the various regions of the Diocese to answer questions about the acquisition of the background checks and clearances.

Every parish in the Diocese is to maintain a binder listing all employees and volunteers, along with their clearances, background checks and verification of their participation in the VIRTUS safe environment program. Background checks and clearances have been completed for 5,976 individuals in the past year alone.

For more information about VIRTUS training, contact Sarah Mountain , Diocesan VIRTUS coordinator, at 570-563-8500.

For information on the background checks and clearances, contact Gail Fromm, Diocesan compliance officer, at 570-207-2214.

“Protecting God’s Children”

VIRTUS Training to Recognize and Prevent Sexual Abuse

                                                Current Number           Number Trained

Priests                                                  373                               335

Deacons                                                 63                                 63

Ordination Candidates                          13                                  13

Educators                                             568                               568

Diocesan Employees                           684                               684

Parish Employees                             1,080                             1,080

Volunteers                                        3,195                             3,195

Children and Youth                         54,921                           54,868

Note: Children and Youth are students in Diocesan Catholic schools who received instruction from the Diocese and also students in public schools who received instruction from their faculty as required by the Pennsylvania State Educational Association. The 33 students who did not receive instruction in school either were absent on the day the program was conducted, or their parents exercised their right to not participate in the program. In either case the materials were sent home to be used at the discretion of the parents. The priests remaining to be trained belong to the various religious orders serving in the Diocese. These priests have received safe environment training from their respective orders, but the Diocese also requests that they participate in the VIRTUS program.

Pennsylvania Criminal Background Checks

and Child Abuse History Clearances

 Current Number              Completed

Priests                                                 373                               373

Deacons                                                63                                63

Ordination Candidates                         13                                 13

Educators                                            568                               568

Diocesan Employees                          684                               684

Parish Employees                            1,080                            1,080

Volunteers                                       3,195                            3,195

Notice Regarding Sexual Abuse of a Person Under Eighteen Years of Age by Ordained or Lay Personnel of the Diocese of Scranton

Such an act should be reported to the Diocese by calling the Victim Assistance Coordinator (570-344-5216) or the Chancellor (570-207-2216) or the Vicar for Priests (570-207-2269).

Upon receiving a report of this kind, the Diocese of Scranton is committed to assisting victims or survivors of sexual abuse in their pursuit of emotional and spiritual well-being.