Audit Finds Sexual Abuse Was Topic Decades Ago

The New York Times ^ | Published: June 18, 2013 | LAURIE GOODSTEIN

[haffast]

A regional province of the Capuchin religious order that had fought allegations of sexual abuse for decades decided last year to open its files dating to the 19th century to three independent auditors, in what the order claimed to be a first in the long-running Roman Catholic Church abuse scandal in the United States.

The auditors’ report, released on Tuesday, found that sexual abuse by friars in the St. Joseph Province of the Capuchin Order was discussed at meetings as far back as 1932, the first year for which minutes of meetings were available.

After more than a dozen students at the province’s St. Lawrence Seminary in Wisconsin accused nine friars of abuse in 1992, it cost the province’s insurer nearly a million dollars — but 89 percent of that went to lawyers to defend the Capuchins and only 11 percent to victims for settlements and therapy, the report said.

“One of the very sobering findings,” the Rev. John Celichowski, the Capuchins’ provincial minister, said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters, “is through much of our history as a province, we have failed victims and survivors.”

snip

The audit is unusual because the Capuchin province commissioned it voluntarily, claimed to allow the investigators unfettered access to original files and documents, and included on the panel the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a prominent whistle-blower who has often testified against the church in court cases.

Most Catholic dioceses undergo annual audits on abuse, but those are based on self-reporting by the dioceses, and the auditors are usually not given access to internal personnel files.

snip

“I hope that this report and this process will lead other entities in the church — dioceses and religious orders — to have the courage and the Christian decency to do the same thing,” ....

[haffast]

A version of this article appeared in print on June 19, 2013, on page A14 of the New York edition with the headline: Audit Finds Sex Abuse Was Topic Decades Ago.

Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph
Daily reflection
June 19

"The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
(Mark 12:31)
http://www.thecapuchins.org/index.shtml

Statement of Policies and Practices in Response to Sexual Misconduct and Abuse Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph
(Updated November, 2011)
http://www.thecapuchins.org/about/OurReponsetoSexualAbuse.shtml

Report of the Audit and Review of the Files of the Capuchin Province of St. Joseph
June 2013
The Auditors
Mr. Michael Burnett, J.D., Esq.
Fr. Thomas Doyle, J.C.D., C.A.D.C.
Dr. James Freiburger, Psy.D.
http://sjpcommunications.org/files/pastoralcare/audit061813.pdf

Report documents eight decades of Capuchin province's poor handling of sex abuse
National Catholic Reporter ^ | Jun. 18, 2013 | Joshua J. McElwee
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3032941/posts

Capuchins admit mishandling Wisconsin sex abuse cases in new audit
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

■ Moved offenders from position to position without divulging their histories, or sent them to treatment then back into ministry, where they would re-offend.

■ Rarely reported allegations to civil authorities, even after they were required by law.

■ Routinely placed concerns for their accused friars and their organization over those of victims.

■ Spent vastly more on lawyers than on compensating or caring for victims.

■ May have lost or destroyed documents.

■ Often re-victimized survivors, especially those who sued the order or sought compensation, transparency or other forms of accountability; in one case, the order's attorney threatened to publicly divulge a victim's sexual orientation if he sued.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/capuchins-admit-mishandling-wisconsin-sex-abuse-cases-in-new-audit-b9935696z1-212006731.html

Pope Benedict XVI: Sexual abuse of children remains a mystery
La Salette Journey ^ | June 18, 2012 | Paul Melanson
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2896615/posts

[schm0e]

Why don’t they do an expose on sexual abuse of children in the public school system? Because they don’t have enough ink to tell the whole story?

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***”The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”****

Proof you can make a Country and Western song about of anything..remember this oldie?

“Love thy neighbor as thyself,
but leave his wife alone.
And if you love thy neighbor as thyself,
make sure her husband don’t come home!”