§
As
indicated by the detailed report issued by the Victims’
Rights Committee for the Boston Archdiocese in June
2004, the RCAB repeatedly violated its own Policies and
Procedures, the Bishops’ Charter, and the code of canon
law in its investigation of Paul Edwards’ charges
against the late Rev. William J. Cummings and Monsignor
Michael Smith Foster. Rather than responding to Edwards
with fairness and compassion, the Archdiocese threatened
to countersue him, circulated false information about
him, and intimidated his lawyer into dropping his case.
Although scores of experts on child abuse have
petitioned the Archdiocese to carry out a proper
investigation, the Archdiocese has insisted without
explanation that the Foster case is closed. For more
information about the Victims’ Rights Committee report,
please visit
www.vrcboston.org.
§
After
Paul Edwards requested access to his RCAB files in June
2003, as he was permitted to do under the Policies and
Procedures promulgated by the Archdiocese in May 2003,
the Archdiocese secretly
rewrote its policies so that all victims are now
denied access to information about the Archdiocese’s
internal investigations of the crimes committed against
them. The Archdiocese has never explained why it
elected to deprive victims of their basic rights, nor
has it indicated whether these unannounced changes are
permanent.
§
In
September 2003, in another sudden and surreptitious
change in diocesan policy, the Archdiocese without
warning cut all survivors' therapy to one session per
week without regard to individual needs. Survivors were
notified several weeks after the policy went into
effect, leaving them with large unpaid therapy bills and
no time to make other arrangements.
This
abrupt shift directly contradicted the Archdiocese’s
public declarations during the "global settlement"
(happening concurrently with the policy change) that all
therapy would be covered for all survivors. These false
and self-serving assertions directly harmed survivors
and obviously violated any conceivable commitment to
“transparency and openness.”
§
In recent
weeks, in yet another failure to communicate basic
information, the Archdiocese has refused to indicate, as
a matter of policy, whether it will publicly identify
all accused priests. Advocates have repeatedly called
various RCAB offices to ask for a clarification of this
fundamental policy, but to date we have received no
response.
§
The
Archdiocese has recently provided extremely confusing
information about the number of new claims filed in
Boston since the so-called global settlement was reached
last year.
“More than 140” was the phrase used in the
Archdiocesan newspaper, which immediately begs the question, “How
many more?” We need to know this number, not only because
it contradicts the remarkably low count of victims per
predatory priest given in the John Jay study, but also
because it will allow us to evaluate how much of a threat
the child molesters who are now being protected by legal
agreements pose to public safety.
§
A few
weeks ago, after a tragic car accident in which a
fourteen-year-old girl was killed, we learned that
the
driver of the car had just been hired by the Archdiocese of
Boston to teach in a Catholic school after having been
forced from her previous position amidst allegations of
child sexual abuse. The Archdiocese has thus far failed to
explain why it violated its own stated commitment to
conducting background checks of all those hired to work with
children, but if its excuse is that this woman lied on her
application, we must acknowledge that its promise to
investigate the histories of new hires is practically
meaningless.
§
In response
to last year’s audit recommendations, the Archdiocese
promised to publicize the procedures for making a complaint
of clergy sexual abuse. The Archdiocese has yet to fulfill
this promise. In fact, a recent configuration of the RCAB’s
web page makes it more rather than less difficult for
victims to learn what steps to take to lodge a complaint.
Moreover, in keeping with its practice of ignoring inquiries
from victims and victim advocates on policy matters, the
Archdiocese has never supplied information about filing a
complaint to advocacy and victim support groups.
Since the Archdiocese has
consistently defied Article 7 of the Bishop’s Charter by failing to
“develop a communications policy that reflects a commitment to
transparency and openness,” the extent to which officials have
failed to comply with other stipulations is impossible to judge.
However, from its mishandling of the Paul Edwards case, its ongoing
refusal to respond to repeated inquiries from advocates and victims,
its pattern of unannounced and unjustified policy changes, and its
failure to resolve problems identified in last year’s audit, we can
only conclude that the Boston hierarchy has reverted to its
traditional indifference toward the rights and well-being of victims
of clergy sexual abuse.
We have additional information that
would be crucial to any assessment of the Archdiocese’s policies and
procedures regarding sex abuse claims. Consequently, in order for
you to gain an accurate understanding of what is happening in
Boston, we urge you to interview Ann Hagan Webb, a victim,
psychologist, and Co-Director of New England SNAP; Susan Gallagher,
a victim, academic researcher, and a member of the Coalition of
Catholics and Survivors, and Jetta Bernier, a leading expert on
childhood sexual abuse, Executive Director of Massachusetts Citizens
for Children, and member of the Victims’ Rights Committee.
Thank you for your time and
attention.
Note:
Phone numbers were supplied in the original memo. None of these
advocates were contacted by the Gavin Group.
