January hearing set to address release of priest files

A hearing is scheduled Jan. 7 in Los Angeles Superior Court to discuss the release of personnel files of Archdiocesan priests accused sexual abuse of children.

The hearing comes during a time when the archdiocese’s efforts to train and educate children and adults to ensure the safety of young people in its parishes and schools continue to be recognized and validated by independent auditors.

The Archdiocese agreed to release the files as part of a “global settlement” of abuse cases in 2007. Retired U.S. District Court Judge Dickran Tevrizian, who presided over the file review, ordered that only files containing information about child sexual abuse be released. He also instructed that the files be “redacted” or edited so as not to disclose the names of victims and Church officials.
The exact release date for the files has not been determined. At the Dec. 10 hearing before Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias, the Archdiocese’s attorney, Michael Hennigan, said the Archdiocese would like to release the documents as early as Jan. 14.

Currently there are about 69 files that the Archdiocese believes meet Judge Tevrizian’s criteria. Attorneys for the plaintiffs have questioned this number and the extent of the files’ redactions. At the Dec. 10 hearing, Judge Emilie Elias ordered both parties to go over the edited documents together, and to submit a list of disputed redactions to the court on Dec. 27.

Safety measures
These new proceedings regarding old files come against the backdrop of more than a decade’s worth of child-safety efforts by the archdiocese and the U.S. Catholic bishops.

In a letter to archdiocesan priests sent Dec. 21, Archbishop José H. Gomez said the Church had “put in place ‘best practices’ for child protection that can be a model for other institutions in American public life.”

“We have full and active participation from every parish and school,” he added.

Independent auditors recently found the archdiocese to once again be in full compliance with the U.S. bishops’ standards for safeguarding children against sexual abuse.

And in recent years, the archdiocese’s child safety efforts have included providing training to more than 1 million children and nearly 200,000 priests, deacons, teachers, parents and parish employees and volunteers. In addition, the archdiocese has implemented a program of full background checks that has included fingerprinting 120,900 employees and volunteers who have contact with children. The archdiocese also provides weekly child safety tips in English and Spanish for use in parish bulletins.

In 2012, the Archdiocese trained an all-time high of 30,272 adults through the VIRTUS® abuse prevention program adopted by the U.S. bishops. The archdiocese has been found in compliance in every audit conducted since a “charter of norms” was adopted by the U.S. bishops in 2002.

In addition, the Archdiocese has been working on internet safety issues in cooperation with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s offices.
Tracy Webb, a senior city attorney, has done nearly 200 presentations on internet and cyber safety to archdiocesan schools and parishes.

Margaret Graf, general counsel at the Archdiocese, noted, “Even though her professional affiliation is limited to the City of Los Angeles, Tracy has been encouraged in her efforts and has taken her own time to share her broad expertise and message to thousands of our students, staff and parishioners at locations in all parts of the Archdiocese.”

Archbishop Gomez said that taken together, “these are great signs of our hard work to keep our children safe.”

Archdiocesan officials noted that the length, depth and quality of safety training — coordinated through the Office of Safeguard the Children — is designed to keep all parishioners and students at a heightened (and lasting) level of awareness regarding the safety of youth.

“We now have an entire generation of young people — including some who are now young adults and college students — who have been trained in our Catholic parishes and schools over the past 10 years,” noted Sister of Charity Mary Elizabeth Galt, chancellor of the archdiocese. “From first grade through high school, students are now very aware of how to protect themselves, how to tell adults when something is wrong, how to be aware of their surroundings — all of the factors that enter into making sure they are safe.”

The required annual training is age-appropriate for each grade level of students, Sister Galt said, and includes “reminder” lessons before students go on extended break from classes.

Adult awareness is similarly addressed, according to Joan Vienna, Safeguard the Children coordinator since its inception in 2002.

“The goal is to teach adults everywhere to be the ‘eyes, ears and voices’ of our children and young people to protect them, not only from child sexual abuse, but also from any circumstance that might cause them harm,” she said. “Over the past decade nearly 200,000 adults have been trained through the VIRTUS® Protecting God’s Children program. As we welcome the New Year, may we recommit ourselves to our vision of making the world a safer place for our most precious gift from God, our children.”

In 2012, new initiatives included the translation of the 10th Anniversary “Working Together To Prevent Child Sexual Abuse” brochure and “Responding to Allegations of Suspected Child Sexual Abuse” in five languages and also planning for the formation of consultative committees made up of representatives from different ethnic communities in the archdiocese.

In advance of the 2012 on-site audits, 89 pre-audits were conducted by archdiocesan Safeguard the Children staff members to assure that all schools and parishes were in compliance. Parishes chosen for the live audit reflected the diversity of the archdiocese’s more than four million Catholics.

Each of the archdiocese’s 287 parishes sent in a nine-page report on implementation of child protection and safe environment measures to the archdiocesan Office of Safeguard the Children, said Vienna.

In his letter to priests, Archbishop Gomez reminded them that these new proceedings regarding old allegations abuse are part of the Archdiocese’s continuing efforts to bring “justice and healing” to abuse victims.

“During this time,” he said, “let us continue to pray for the healing of all victims of abuse. Let us also be mindful of those for whom these news stories might invoke painful memories of past abuse in their own lives.”