In June 2002, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” as a response to numerous allegations that certain clergy had been involved in the sexual abuse of children and youth. In addition, there was outrage that some of the Catholic Church’s clerical leaders had not dealt openly with these serious accusations and, in some cases, even transferred accused priests to other parishes only to have the abuse of children and youth perpetuated further. The 2002 Charter has identified seventeen Articles that should help ensure that the Catholic Church in the United States is creating a safe environment for all children and youth who are involved in religious, educational and recreational activities sponsored by the Church. This Charter applies to all particular Churches within the Catholic Church, including the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Article 2, “Response and Reporting”, describes the creation of a Review Board in each eparchy/diocese to respond quickly to any allegations of sexual abuse of children and youth and to oversee the creation of a safe environment for them.
Bishop Richard Seminack has requested that the St. Nicholas Eparchial Review Board present a report on the progress our Eparchy has made in implementing the mandates contained in the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People”. We would also like to take this opportunity to share with the clergy and parishioners of the Eparchy some information regarding the work of the Review Board. In accordance with the Charter, St. Nicholas Eparchy issued its Sexual Abuse Policy in October 2003. At the same time the Eparchy also issued a Code of Conduct for all Eparchial clergy, employees, educators and volunteers who have contact with children. These documents have been distributed to all parishes and are available for review in the church, school or parish rectory.
The
Review Board
In October 2003, Bishop Seminack appointed a Review Board to serve as a confidential panel/body to advise him in his assessment of allegations of sexual abuse of minors and in his determinations about the suitability of clergy for ministry. The Board’s current membership is composed of six members: a judge, an attorney, a writer, a board-certified child psychiatrist, a doctoral clinical psychologist with multiple board certifications for work with children and families, and a social worker with vast experience in child protection issues. The Board has the responsibility to review Eparchial policies mandated by the Charter and to oversee compliance with all of the Charter Articles. The Review Board may also be asked by the Bishop to advise him in cases concerning allegations of sexual misconduct that involves adults.
Information regarding individual cases is highly confidential and protected from disclosure under Canon Law. Within the confines of respect for the privacy and the reputation of the individuals involved, the Review Board can only provide some general information concerning the cases it has considered. The Review Board’s function in such cases does not involve making any findings of guilt or innocence, but is part of the preliminary investigation conducted by the Eparchy as to whether the allegations of sexual abuse of a minor appear credible. The preliminary inquiry is conducted under the direction of Father Mykhailo Kuzma, the Eparchy’s Vicar for the Office of Protection of Children and Youth. If the Eparchy determines that the allegations appear credible, then the case is sent to the Vatican. The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reviews the case and decides whether a church tribunal should be convened to hear the charges and adjudicate the case on its merits. Therefore, the Review Board’s role in such cases is only at the initial stage.
Since October 2003, the Review Board has considered allegations of possible sexual abuse of minors against three members of the clergy. In the first case, the accused priest was alleged to have committed acts of sexual abuse prior to becoming a priest. In that case, Bishop Seminack requested that the priest be recalled to the Eparchy where the priest had been ordained so that the Bishop who had jurisdiction over the priest could take any action he felt was appropriate. In the second case, after inquiry, the allegations were not found to be credible and the case was closed. The third case is currently being reviewed and action is still pending.
None of the allegations considered to date by the Review Board involved a situation where the alleged victim is a minor at this time. In each case the accuser is an adult and the alleged acts were committed many years ago. Each of these allegations was reported to the local district attorney’s office so that the civil authorities could make their own assessment about the credibility of the allegations. It is Eparchial policy to report all allegations involving sexual abuse of a minor to local authorities, even those allegations which do not appear credible. This notification process is also used even where the applicable statute of limitations may bar prosecution. In the interests of complete transparency, the Eparchy wishes the civil authorities to make their own determinations in these matters.
Background
Evaluations
Charter Article 13 “Background Evaluations” requires that the Eparchy evaluate the backgrounds of all Eparchial clergy, educators, employees, and volunteers who have regular contact with children. This turned out to be an enormous task for the Eparchy that has 45 parishes in 15 states in the Midwest and Western half of the United States. There are some priests, educators and volunteers who have only some fluency in English. Some of the clergy and other personnel who emigrated from Ukraine have been reluctant to submit to these background checks because of their experiences in the Soviet Union. Eventually all of these concerns have been surmounted. The St. Nicholas Eparchy is now in substantial compliance with the requirement for background checks. To date, all clergy, educators, employees, and volunteers who have regular contact with children have either completed the required background check or are scheduled to complete it soon.
The Review Board has noted that many priests in this Eparchy have been ordained in other eparchies/dioceses. As a result, St. Nicholas Eparchy is in the process of establishing a policy requiring the transferring Bishop or Religious Superior to disclose and certify for the transferring priest or deacon: (1) whether any allegations of any misconduct have been made against the cleric; (2) that the Bishop of St. Nicholas Eparchy will be notified immediately of any complaint indicating that the cleric may have allegedly engaged in an incident of sexual abuse of a minor; (3) that such notification shall be made within 48 hours of receipt of such allegations; and (4) that the stipulations of this certification will be updated every three years. The Review Board has requested the Eparchy to submit an annual report that identifies the assignment of secular and religious clergy from other jurisdictions and verifies that clergy transferring into the Eparchy have an appropriate certification given by the referring Bishop or Religious Superior from whose jurisdiction the priest is being transferred. The Review Board has also requested that the Chancery maintain a list of all clergy who have been refused ministerial faculties due to their background checks or other information.
Safe
Environment Programs
The Charter requires in Article 12 “Safe Environment Programs” that all eparchies/dioceses cooperate with parents, civil authorities, educators and community organizations to provide education and training for children, youth, parents, clergy, educators and volunteers about ways to create and maintain a safe environment for children and youth. The St. Nicholas Eparchy is currently utilizing a website-program, VIRTUS, for its safe environment training of clergy, staff, educators and volunteers who have regular contact with children and youth. The local parishes are also free to utilize the safe environment programs offered by neighboring dioceses. This VIRTUS program was implemented in spring 2004. Currently, all clergy, educators, employees, and volunteers who have regular contact with children either have completed or are scheduled to complete the required training.
A very important part of a safe environment program includes the education of children and youth who must learn how to keep themselves safe by understanding what is inappropriate touch and who to tell if it occurs. There have been many programs developed in public school systems across the United States in an effort to reduce all types of abuse of children and youth. Many of these programs do not approach this topic in a faith based manner. Parents must be involved in the review of such programs and feel comfortable in having their children participate. Currently the Eparchy has not initiated any safe environment education for children and youth dealing with sexual abuse. This is an area that the Eparchy must address to be in compliance with the Charter’s Article 12. The Review Board has suggested that the Eparchy create a Child and Youth Safe Environment Task Force to serve as a resource to the Eparchy and to oversee the implementation of safe environment education of our children and youth. Clergy, educators and, most importantly, interested parents are encouraged to express their desire to Father Mykhailo Kuzma to become a member of the Task Force and to participate in helping the Eparchy move forward in this most sensitive endeavor. Immaculate Conception Parish in Detroit, Michigan and St. Nicholas Parish in Chicago, Illinois are both parishes with parochial schools and will be the first sites to tackle this issue.
Conclusion
In February 2005, the Office of Children and Youth Protection at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced that the St. Nicholas Eparchy was in full compliance with the Articles and mandates of the Charter. When one considers that our Eparchy stretches across one-half of the United States, this is no small accomplishment. Credit for this success is due to the high priority and close attention provided by Bishop Richard Seminack and Father Mykhailo Kuzma, as well as the dedicated
clergy and parishioners at the parish level who have assisted in this matter. There is still much to do, however, and the Review Board promises the clergy and parishioners of St. Nicholas Eparchy that it will continue to work with Bishop Seminack to make our Eparchy a model for a safe environment for
children and youth.
Respectfully submitted by Members of the Review Board:
Hon. Lubomyr M. Jachnycky, Chairperson
Linda L. Hryhorczuk, M.D., Deputy Chair
Mr. John Novocilsky, Jr., Secretary
Michael R. Kos, Esq.
Anna Macielinski, M.P.A.
George
M. Wawrykow, Ph.D., ABPP