News

Diocese backs abuse bills

The Green Bay Diocese supports two bills before the state Assembly and Senate that propose the inclusion of clergy as mandatory reporters of sexual abuse of children and make it easier to file lawsuits for such abuse.

The diocese repeated its support for SB207 and AB428 last month in a letter given to Mass-goers at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Green Bay, where members of SNAP - the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests - were outside distributing leaflets about the bills. SNAP chose the Cathedral because it is the Bishop's church.

In February, when lawmakers first began drafting legislation, the Wisconsin Catholic Conference - which represents all five Catholic dioceses in Wisconsin - announced that it supports adding members of the clergy to the list of mandatory reporters and that it backs a five-year extension in the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits brought by people who are sexually abused as minors. The conference repeated its support for the bills in June when they were introduced in the Legislature.

The letter distributed at the Cathedral also spelled out steps the diocese has taken to enforce the zero-tolerance policy approved last June by U.S. Catholic bishops meeting in Dallas. The letter also was posted on the diocesan website.

The bills before the Legislature would make these changes in the law:

• Add clergy to the list of mandatory reporters of child abuse/neglect.

• Extend the statute of limitations to give prosecutors more time to bring criminal charges against perpetrators, and victims more time to sue those responsible for civil damages.

• Clarify that victims may sue religious organizations, including churches and dioceses, for actions of offending clergy.

The bills are supported by Bp. Robert Banks, the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, the Wisconsin Council of Churches, and the Wisconsin Jewish Conference.

SNAP wants the bills changed so there is no time limit for filing lawsuits or prosecutions.

At last year's meeting in Dallas, the U.S. Bishops, including Bp. Banks, approved a zero-tolerance policy for any past, present or future sexual abuse of a minor by a priest. That policy has been put into effect in the Green Bay Diocese.

In accord with the Dallas document, the diocese formed a five-member Independent Review Board. The members include mental health professionals, attorneys and a former police officer. The board is responsible for reviewing sexual abuse cases and diocesan sexual abuse policies concerning minors.

The diocese also has implemented a sexual abuse prevention program. By mid-August, 735 paid staff and volunteers working in Catholic parishes, schools and the diocesan offices had attended one of eight workshops as part of the sexual abuse prevention program. Another 36 workshops will be conducted in the next eight weeks. The diocese expects to train more than 4,000 paid and volunteer personnel over the next couple of years.

The diocese also has taken the following steps to communicate with Catholics and the general public about sexual abuse:

• Parishes have been asked at least three times since July 2002 to publish bulletin announcements about how to report the sexual abuse of a minor by a priest.

• Information has been distributed to The Compass and secular newspapers about how to report sexual abuse; what the current diocesan policy is and how closely it parallels the new national standards; and what the new training embodies and when sessions will be held.

• In addition to the therapists who work at Catholic Charities, 18 more diocesan staff members have been trained to facilitate the sexual abuse prevention training sessions; and nine more diocesan staff members are working on projects related to child sexual abuse prevention.

• Since June 2002, Bp. Banks has conducted six press conferences and numerous media interviews to answer reporters' questions about the sexual abuse issue.

• Even before the Dallas meeting, Bp. Banks formed the Record Review Task Force, which reviewed the files of all the priests who have served in the diocese and the number who were accused of abusing minors. The report is available to the public.