Transparency still lacking in Catholic sex-abuse scandal

Having completed service last year as chairman of the Archdiocese of Seattle board that reviewed allegations of the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, I remain concerned about the direction of matters since our case-review board's report was made public last fall.

I write in the hope that the bold promises of the Dallas Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People — published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and containing the guidelines that led to the creation of case-review boards across the country — are completely realized.

I acknowledge the progress that has been made by our archdiocese, but believe that more needs to be done.

To begin with, secrecy continues to shadow the process we were led to believe would be open and transparent. Some cases reviewed by the Seattle board in 2003 still have no final resolution. Because the archdiocese has decided to wait on these cases until the Vatican acts (whenever that might be, and behind closed doors), the victims who came forward and all parishoners must continue to wait.

Last fall, Archbishop Alex J. Brunett responded to our report: "As you will note in my response, I do intend to release all of these names [of priests] as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responds to each case which hopefully will take place in the coming weeks."

How much longer will these cases remain in this limbo status?

Further, one of the cases we heard involved a priest whose acts of sexual misconduct were found to be particularly egregious. Only due to a quirk of church law was he not found culpable under the protocols of the Dallas charter. The board believed he was unfit to minister to Catholics. The archbishop agreed with us. It remains unclear where this case stands. It has not, to our knowledge, been made public.

It is not clear why this hasn't occurred. What is the status of this matter and why is it being kept from church members?

Furthermore, the matter of allegations against clergy from religious orders — whose cases were not heard by the review board due to church law pertaining to priests not directly ordained for the diocese — must not be ignored.

The board, comprised of Catholics and non-Catholics, with professionals of various backgrounds and experience, made a sincere effort to inform Catholics and the community about both the good things that this archdiocese has done regarding the past sexual abuse of minors by clergy, as well as those areas where we believe improvements can be made.

The report was forwarded to the archbishop in the hope that a dialogue in good faith could occur in the community over this issue so that the church could move beyond the scandal.

Instead, we found resistance to even publishing our report, leading, ultimately, to the dismissal of the board.

But, it is not individual membership on any board that matters. Rather, it is about accountability. As difficult as this subject is for many Catholics, it can present an opportunity to rally around the overwhelming majority of clergy who remain faithful to their vows, to hold accountable those who do not, and to encourage the openness and respect for the laity that is the best defense against such acts occurring in the future.

It seems fair that the archbishop answer questions about following up with our recommendations and to publish our report, not in a hard-to-find section of a Web site, but in the Northwest Progress (the official publication of the diocese), and to make copies available in the various parishes so that a full and fair dialogue can take place within our church and community.

After some delay, efforts are under way to form a new board. Hopefully, this board will show allegiance (as the previous board did) to independence and openness and, in working with the archbishop, demonstrate the forthrightness this subject deserves.

The Catholic Church needs to get past this scandal, minister to the faithful and address other issues within the church. The lengthy delays in the handling of cases of sexual abuse and the apparent lack of follow-through with the agreed-upon recommendations in the review board's report can only serve to undermine confidence in the church.