HAS THE DALLAS CHARTER WORKED?
Peter Steinfels claims "In the case of Pennsylvania, whether one looks at the handling of old allegations or the prevention of new ones, the conclusion that a careful, unbiased reading of the Pennsylvania report compels is this: the Dallas Charter has worked. Not worked perfectly, nor without need for regular improvements and constant watchfulness."
This CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate) article is particularly valuable reaction to the PA Grand Jury Report analyzing some Pennsylvania data in comparison to John Jay Study data, and presenting some analysis of their own extensive data.
1. The John Jay Study 2004 study found 10,667 allegations by that time that covered abuse for the years 1950-2002.
2. CARA found 8206 new allegations during the years 2004-2017.
3. The new allegations were mostly about abuse that had occurred before 2002. The distribution of years in which the abused occurred was highly similar to that of cases reported in the John Jay 2004 study, i.e. most of the abuse took place before 1985. This of course was 15 to 20 years before the charter was adopted. The Charter is not dealing with old allegations but it is dealing mostly with the period before the Charter.
The Causes and Context Report by John Jay was a 2011 follow-up to their 2004 Nature and Scope of the Problem study which was mostly descriptive. At 150 pages it is well worth the read even if presented in a dull scientific research format.
Ch. 1 Understanding Sexual Abuse in Society in a Recent Historical Context
Out of a total of 109,694 priests, 4292 had allegations made against them during the time period of 1950 -2002. Focusing upon when the offense occurred, offenses increased steadily to a peak in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and then declined sharply after 1985. Only a total of 810 victims had reported allegations prior to 1985, another 3754 victims made allegations between 1990 and 1998; 3,399 victims made allegations in 2002! Of the 10,667 incidents reported by 2002, 80.5% had taken place before 1985 although only 810 had been reported by then. The majority of the priest abusers (56%) in these reports had only one victim; however 3.5% of the abusers were responsible for abusing 26 percent of the victims.
Ch. 2 Historical Analysis
The number of priests accused per 100 priests rose from 1.1 in 1960 to 8.65 by 1980, then fell sharply to 2.2 in 1990 (figures based on accusations made by 2002). The number of priests in active ministry remained about the same beginning at 42,970 in 1950 and ending at 45,713 in 2002. Ordination cohort (ordained prior to 1960, during the sixties, during the seventies) had no effect on abuse. Most abuse occurred during the same years (late sixties through seventies) with older priests starting later in their careers, and young priests starting early in their careers. Homosexual men entered the seminaries in increased numbers from the late 1970s through the 1980s. They were part of the cohorts that were identified with a decreased incidence of abuse.
Ordinations had fallen steadily from 1,527 in 1960 to 454 in 2005. The impact of this would not be felt until the 1990s. Resignations rose from a level of 200 a year in 1966 to a peak of 750 in 1969, then declined consistently to 258 in 1976, leveling off in the 1980s at less than 200. Research found that loneliness and desire to marry will the leading reasons.
Ch. 3 Individual and Psychological Aspects of Sexual Abuse
“no single psychological, developmental, or behavioral characteristic differentiated priests who abused minors from those who did not.” Priests who identified as homosexual as well as those who participated in same sex sexual behavior were not significantly more likely to abuse minors than priests who identified as heterosexual. Men who were sexually abused as a minor were more likely to abuse minors. “The clinical data confirm the difficulty that many priests ordained between 1930 and 1970 had in sustaining a celibate life; 80% of those who received psychological help had been sexually active after ordination. The Loyola Study done in 1970 found that 55% of priests reported themselves as somewhat or very sexually active. Only a quarter of a sample of older priests matched to reported sexual abusers identified themselves as gay.
Ch 4 The Organization Response to Sexual Abuse
On October 18, 1984 Gilbert Gauthe, a former priest of the diocese of Lafayette was indicted for a long list of sexual crimes against children. His case was covered by Jason Berry first for the local newspaper then for the National Catholic Reporter. It got the attention of the Bishops at their summer meeting in 1985. They were presented with a resource paper and proposal for action; they did nothing. In a 2007 meeting with the John Jay researchers, Father Doyle one of thee persons who wrote the proposal said that Gauthe's bishop and others knew of at least seven other abusers about whom they did nothing but maintain secrecy and transfer the priests. Doyle who worked at the Nuncio’s office reported that between October 1984 and March 1985 they had received forty different reports of sexual abuse of minors. In May 1985 Doyle delivered a face to face briefing of two hours with the Vatican Prefect of the Congregation for Priests and wrote to John Paul II! Doyle added "neither the Pope nor any Vatican office responded or issued any kind of written or oral statement between 1984 and 1993..."
At the bishops meeting of June 1992 they adopted Five Principles including responding promptly, removing from ministry if credible, comply with civil reporting requirements, reach out to victims, and be open while respecting rights of accused and victims. These were guidelines with no teeth. Even though bishops began reviewing old cases, they often kept priests in ministry because they had no evidence of re-offending. However as more accusation surfaced they would then appear to have moved and reassigned priests. Until 2000, the initial reaction of bishops was to reprimand and return or refer for evaluation in over half the cases.
Before 1985 most of the cases were reported by parents about their children and concerned recent abuse. Beginning in the 1980s more and more of the cases came from adults reporting of their childhood abuse. At first they were mostly supported by victim’s advocates. More recently most of the cases are reported by lawyers for victims.
Ch 5 The Sexual Victimization of Minors
Child sexual victimization is widespread despite a precipitous decline in cases in the 1990s: approximately 30% of girls and 13% of boys during their lifetime. This is a public health problem since victims experience higher levels of mental health problems as adults. Females are more likely than males to disclose information about sexual abuse. Abuse leads to negative long term psychological and emotional consequences. Studies of the harm and prevalence of victimization began emerging in the 1970s but did not receive widespread media attention until the 1980.
The data show that the highest percentage of males were abused at the peak of the crises, which corresponds with the highest levels of alcohol/substance abuse during the period. The most common venue for meeting the abuser was in church, with girls slightly more likely to meet the abuser in school or at home. Slightly higher incidence of abuse of males occurred in hotel rooms, vacation house, and outings, as well as during travel and church service as altar boys. The most common place of abuse was the parish residence.
Priests used forms of denial common to non-priest abusers, such as denying their responsibility or blaming it upon the victim or the victim’s parents, or minimizing the harm done. However they also used particularly Catholic forms of denial, e.g. that God had already forgiven them and therefore the bishop, the victims and others should also forgive them. Such rationalization helped them to see themselves as still men of God despite their behavior. They expressed resentment that bishops were not treating them as “prodigal sons.”
This CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate) article is particularly valuable reaction to the PA Grand Jury Report analyzing some Pennsylvania data in comparison to John Jay Study data, and presenting some analysis of their own extensive data.
1. The John Jay Study 2004 study found 10,667 allegations by that time that covered abuse for the years 1950-2002.
2. CARA found 8206 new allegations during the years 2004-2017.
3. The new allegations were mostly about abuse that had occurred before 2002. The distribution of years in which the abused occurred was highly similar to that of cases reported in the John Jay 2004 study, i.e. most of the abuse took place before 1985. This of course was 15 to 20 years before the charter was adopted. The Charter is not dealing with old allegations but it is dealing mostly with the period before the Charter.
These annual reports are produced by the Bishop Conference Staff and the National Review Board with much of the data provided by CARA. It is a good place to get a sense of the bureaucratic processes which the Charter has put in place, and some of its complexity.
4. The allegations since 2004 have concerned 5999 abusers; most of these abusers had been identified before. However 2354 new abusers have been identified! The processes set in place by the charter have a potential for giving us a much better picture of the abuse that went on prior to 1985. They could be used to learn both more about those who had already been identified, the many abusers who have only recently been identified, and how abuse allegations were managed in the past.
5. Media publicity about abuse, advocacy by survivors, and law suits have driven allegations both before and after the Charter. Before 1985 there were few allegations even though most of the abuse took place before that year. It has taken years to bring forth these allegations, and the passage of time brings forth even more allegations about abuse before 1985.
6. There is a concern that perhaps abuse after the Charter will also take a long time to surface. However if it does, there should be a gradual shift of the curve forward in time. To date there is no evidence that is happening.
The Causes and Context Report by John Jay was a 2011 follow-up to their 2004 Nature and Scope of the Problem study which was mostly descriptive. At 150 pages it is well worth the read even if presented in a dull scientific research format.
Ch. 1 Understanding Sexual Abuse in Society in a Recent Historical Context
Out of a total of 109,694 priests, 4292 had allegations made against them during the time period of 1950 -2002. Focusing upon when the offense occurred, offenses increased steadily to a peak in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and then declined sharply after 1985. Only a total of 810 victims had reported allegations prior to 1985, another 3754 victims made allegations between 1990 and 1998; 3,399 victims made allegations in 2002! Of the 10,667 incidents reported by 2002, 80.5% had taken place before 1985 although only 810 had been reported by then. The majority of the priest abusers (56%) in these reports had only one victim; however 3.5% of the abusers were responsible for abusing 26 percent of the victims.
Ch. 2 Historical Analysis
The number of priests accused per 100 priests rose from 1.1 in 1960 to 8.65 by 1980, then fell sharply to 2.2 in 1990 (figures based on accusations made by 2002). The number of priests in active ministry remained about the same beginning at 42,970 in 1950 and ending at 45,713 in 2002. Ordination cohort (ordained prior to 1960, during the sixties, during the seventies) had no effect on abuse. Most abuse occurred during the same years (late sixties through seventies) with older priests starting later in their careers, and young priests starting early in their careers. Homosexual men entered the seminaries in increased numbers from the late 1970s through the 1980s. They were part of the cohorts that were identified with a decreased incidence of abuse.
Ordinations had fallen steadily from 1,527 in 1960 to 454 in 2005. The impact of this would not be felt until the 1990s. Resignations rose from a level of 200 a year in 1966 to a peak of 750 in 1969, then declined consistently to 258 in 1976, leveling off in the 1980s at less than 200. Research found that loneliness and desire to marry will the leading reasons.
Ch. 3 Individual and Psychological Aspects of Sexual Abuse
“no single psychological, developmental, or behavioral characteristic differentiated priests who abused minors from those who did not.” Priests who identified as homosexual as well as those who participated in same sex sexual behavior were not significantly more likely to abuse minors than priests who identified as heterosexual. Men who were sexually abused as a minor were more likely to abuse minors. “The clinical data confirm the difficulty that many priests ordained between 1930 and 1970 had in sustaining a celibate life; 80% of those who received psychological help had been sexually active after ordination. The Loyola Study done in 1970 found that 55% of priests reported themselves as somewhat or very sexually active. Only a quarter of a sample of older priests matched to reported sexual abusers identified themselves as gay.
Ch 4 The Organization Response to Sexual Abuse
On October 18, 1984 Gilbert Gauthe, a former priest of the diocese of Lafayette was indicted for a long list of sexual crimes against children. His case was covered by Jason Berry first for the local newspaper then for the National Catholic Reporter. It got the attention of the Bishops at their summer meeting in 1985. They were presented with a resource paper and proposal for action; they did nothing. In a 2007 meeting with the John Jay researchers, Father Doyle one of thee persons who wrote the proposal said that Gauthe's bishop and others knew of at least seven other abusers about whom they did nothing but maintain secrecy and transfer the priests. Doyle who worked at the Nuncio’s office reported that between October 1984 and March 1985 they had received forty different reports of sexual abuse of minors. In May 1985 Doyle delivered a face to face briefing of two hours with the Vatican Prefect of the Congregation for Priests and wrote to John Paul II! Doyle added "neither the Pope nor any Vatican office responded or issued any kind of written or oral statement between 1984 and 1993..."
At the bishops meeting of June 1992 they adopted Five Principles including responding promptly, removing from ministry if credible, comply with civil reporting requirements, reach out to victims, and be open while respecting rights of accused and victims. These were guidelines with no teeth. Even though bishops began reviewing old cases, they often kept priests in ministry because they had no evidence of re-offending. However as more accusation surfaced they would then appear to have moved and reassigned priests. Until 2000, the initial reaction of bishops was to reprimand and return or refer for evaluation in over half the cases.
Before 1985 most of the cases were reported by parents about their children and concerned recent abuse. Beginning in the 1980s more and more of the cases came from adults reporting of their childhood abuse. At first they were mostly supported by victim’s advocates. More recently most of the cases are reported by lawyers for victims.
Ch 5 The Sexual Victimization of Minors
Child sexual victimization is widespread despite a precipitous decline in cases in the 1990s: approximately 30% of girls and 13% of boys during their lifetime. This is a public health problem since victims experience higher levels of mental health problems as adults. Females are more likely than males to disclose information about sexual abuse. Abuse leads to negative long term psychological and emotional consequences. Studies of the harm and prevalence of victimization began emerging in the 1970s but did not receive widespread media attention until the 1980.
The data show that the highest percentage of males were abused at the peak of the crises, which corresponds with the highest levels of alcohol/substance abuse during the period. The most common venue for meeting the abuser was in church, with girls slightly more likely to meet the abuser in school or at home. Slightly higher incidence of abuse of males occurred in hotel rooms, vacation house, and outings, as well as during travel and church service as altar boys. The most common place of abuse was the parish residence.
Priests used forms of denial common to non-priest abusers, such as denying their responsibility or blaming it upon the victim or the victim’s parents, or minimizing the harm done. However they also used particularly Catholic forms of denial, e.g. that God had already forgiven them and therefore the bishop, the victims and others should also forgive them. Such rationalization helped them to see themselves as still men of God despite their behavior. They expressed resentment that bishops were not treating them as “prodigal sons.”