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Jose Bishop Patrick J.
McGrath responds to series
of questions on clergy
sexual abuse Roberta Ward, Executive Editor of The Valley Catholic, posed the following questions to San Jose Bishop Patrick J. McGrath in mid-April. His answers follow As the Bishop of San Jose, what would be your first response to the scandal of sexual abuse in the Church? “My first response would be sorrow. I would offer sincere apology to those who have been hurt. I would offer help for the victims and their families, now and in the future.” Is any priest in the Diocese of San Jose, now in an official assignment, a threat to minors? “I do not believe so. It is my most important responsibility to make sure that everyone is safe—everyone, but most especially minors and at-risk adults. I must make sure that we have realistic policies, that we continue to review them, that they are workable and up to date.” Have there been priests in the Diocese of San Jose who have been found to be sexual abusers of minors and were they reassigned to parishes? “There have been several cases. One predates the Diocese of San Jose and happened 26 years ago. Based on the psychological data available at the time, he was eventually assigned to a parish. In a more recent case, a decade ago, the priest was eventually assigned to non-parochial ministry. Neither was found to be a predator. “Two more cases in the past dealt with priests now retired. In those cases, which were investigated by civil authorities at the time, no criminal charges were ever sustained. “Currently, reports have been forwarded to the diocese about two more priests, now deceased. We are investigating all allegations.” If a priest of the Diocese of San Jose admits to or is ever convicted of the sexual abuse of minors or vulnerable adults, will you “defrock” him? Will you retain him on limited assignment? What about a priest who has admitted to a previous incident of misconduct, many years ago, has received therapy, remains under supervision, and has not repeated the behavior? “If the offence has been against a prepubescent minor, I would not reassign. What was done in the past was done correctly, based on the psychological knowledge at the time, but this is no longer acceptable. Change is taking place in society. I am now told that the pedophile condition is not treatable. I am waiting for the June bishops’ meeting to help bring greater clarity to this point. “As to ‘defrocking’—would it be fair to set someone loose on society? Would it not be better to keep an eye on such a person, in a position where he would be under Church supervision?” If asked by the Santa Clara County DA, will you turn over clergy personnel files? “I will cooperate fully with the district attorney. I will do what is required, respecting the rights of all parties, in order to be sure that people are safe.” If asked, will you turn over any files (lay people - teachers, coaches, etc.)? “All people—priests, lay people—all have rights, but I will work with civil authorities on these matters. I will do everything in my power to make sure that people, especially minors, are safe.” What is your perception of the secular media’s reporting on the subject of sexual abuse by clergy? “This is a legitimate story and it needs to be reported. Some of the stories have been more balanced than others.” Have you reviewed, are you continuing to review, clergy personnel files? Going how far back? “I continue to review all files and I will especially do that if people bring forward names of people about whom they have concerns. This diocese has files of priests who have served here for the last 21 years, not to mention files on all our 1,400 full-time lay employees.” What about priests who may have had consensual sexual relations with adults? Will they be reassigned or asked to become laicized? Are they held to a different standard? “For a priest, this kind of behavior is, of course, sinful. It is a betrayal of one’s promise of celibacy. It is not necessarily a crime, however. Would such a person be reassigned? Perhaps. “First, I would expect such a priest to be sincerely sorry and have a willingness to seek psychological assistance so that I may have some assurance that this priest is capable of living a celibate life without damaging other people. This takes time and when these conditions have been demonstrated to me, I believe I would reassign the person. We are a forgiving Church. “We must be careful, however, that reassignment does not too quickly follow forgiveness. We must be sure that such a person is not a predator or that such behavior is not habitual. “Priests should be held to a higher standard. The priesthood is a daily, lifelong process of living closer to the Lord. Sometimes we fail, but we can pick up and do better. We are all sinners. Christ came to save sinners. We all sin in different ways, and sexual sins are not the only sins.” Has the Diocese of San Jos_ paid money to anyone (adult or minor) claiming to have been abused by a priest? How much has been paid and for what? Where did the funds come from? Do they come from the Annual Diocesan Appeal? “Since our sexual misconduct policy went into effect in 1987, we have had 13 incidents, not all of them involving minors, some of which have involved priests and some of which have involved lay employees. “Six of those cases became claims and totaled $139,796. The most expensive case involved no minors and the claim was not sustained, but defense costs to the diocese amounted to $89,297. Funds for the payments have come from our insurers. “During fiscal year 2000–2001, neither the Diocese of San Jose nor its insurer had any open claims for sexual misconduct. To date, in the current fiscal year, we have no open claims. “The Annual Diocesan Appeal supports the Central Administrative Office of the Diocese of San Jose. In the current fiscal year, $15,487 was spent on property, casualty and liability insurance. This amount was paid to the diocese’s self-insurance fund which acts as a joint purchaser of insurance, not only for the Central Administrative Office, but also for the 52 parishes, their schools, and the other agencies of the diocese. Therefore, the total liability premium paid to our insurance company for liability coverage for this year is $417,000.” Will the Diocese of San Jose help pay the settlement costs for other dioceses? “No.” Do you think that mandatory celibacy has something to do with this issue? “No. I do believe that it may be possible for people with this sickness to hide in the ranks of a celibate clergy. But, changing the Church’s discipline on celibacy—for the Latin Rite—will not end this problem. “This is a problem in all parts of society. It is part of the general ‘gene pool’ of human beings. We must continue to learn more and develop effective ways to discern this condition. Pedophilia is a condition not confined just to clergy. It is part of society in general and unfortunately it is worldwide.” Do you think that homosexuality in the priesthood has something to do with this issue? “No, not any more than heterosexuality. This sickness is not just part of any one sexual orientation. Pedophiles and ephebophiles may be heterosexual or homosexual and the majority of them, as data shows, are married people, not celibates.” What will be your response to adults who may come to the Diocese of San Jose and make allegations that they had been abused many years ago, in their youth? “First, I will listen to them and then I will apologize to them for the hurt that has been done to them. That’s the least I can do. I will treat them with respect and kindness and give them support. I will remind them of their rights to go to the civil authorities. I will have allegations investigated to the best of my ability, bearing in mind that perhaps much time has passed. I will do the best I can with the information as given.” Will you work with SNAP, the victim’s organization? “I am willing to be in conversation with them. I will work with anyone who can render assistance.” As the bishop of a diocese which has entrusted the pastoral care of several parishes to Religious orders of clergy, what are your obligations with regard to the pastors and parochial vicars assigned to those parishes? Do you have access to their personnel files? “As bishop of the diocese, I enter into a contract with the Superior General or Provincial of the Religious order which I have asked to provide pastoral care of a parish. As bishop, I have the ultimate responsibility for each and every parish of the diocese. Leadership persons in the Religious orders recommend their specific personnel to serve as pastors and parochial vicars at these parishes. As bishop I make the final decision as to who is assigned from their recommendations. “As bishop, I would discuss Religious clergy with their superiors, as needed, and I have the right to request to see clergy files if there is a serious reason. In my dealings with Religious orders, I have never had any reason to believe that they didn’t tell me the truth, as they knew it. I have never felt anyone lied to me.” Do you have a committee of people in the Diocese of San Jos_ who review and/or investigate allegations of sexual abuse? How many people comprise the committee? From what professions? Men, women, Religious, priests? Does the committee reflect a broad spectrum of the community? “As of now I have a six-member Sensitive Incident Team which is composed of two priests, three lay people and one Religious woman. The lay people are parents and one of them is a lay legal professional. “I intend to establish a task force to take a look at our policies and the makeup of the Sensitive Incident Team. I will, with the recommendation of the task force, add members to it in the near future. I would like to broaden membership with people representing victims and people from law enforcement, psychology or psychiatry, and with judiciary experience. I am hoping that discussions at the June bishops’ meeting will help with this.” Do you think that the U.S. Bishops should have one clear national policy regarding sexual abuse by priests? (In view of the fact that, although many dioceses do have good policies, which they enforce, it appears that the indiscretions of the few are tainting everybody else.) One national policy might make each bishop accountable to one clear standard and accountable to each other. “I believe we must have a clear national policy by which every bishop will be bound and that there be some way of checking on that. I would like a national policy binding on every diocese. I would like to have an oversight group or office to make sure that the policy is implemented in every diocese. There must be accountability. “We presently have the five major guidelines developed by the U.S. Bishops’ Conference but there is no accountability process in that. Each bishop is autonomous. “Since 1987 we have had a policy in the Diocese of San Jose that does incorporate those national guidelines, and we follow that. I would find a national policy very helpful. Perhaps local bishops will have to forego some autonomy, but, it’s for the good of the people.” How did this ever happen in the Church? How could abusers ever have been allowed into the seminary, much less ordained? “Child sexual abuse is happening in all parts of society and, unfortunately, the Church is not exempt. We now know more about this illness than we did 20, 30, 40 years ago. When reviewing evaluations of candidates for the priesthood, we now have more current data to give us insights into potential abusers. There are, unfortunately, no guarantees.” You have been a bishop for 13 years. In your view, how has the U.S. Bishops’ Conference responded to this issue? “I believe we have done our best with the psychological information that we have had available. I believe that the bishops’ conference has acted, for many years now, in keeping bishops informed and by promoting good policies. However, we have to follow the policies. No policy is of any use unless it is followed.” Is this the greatest crisis the Church has faced? “That’s a relative question, given the long history of the Church. But, I will say that, in my 56 years of life, that this is the biggest crisis I have seen in the Catholic Church. A crisis is also a time of opportunity, however, and we have an opportunity now to face up to this and bring some good out of it. It is not just a crisis for the Church, but also a challenge for humanity. This can be an opportunity to do something for children worldwide.” Do you think this crisis will escalate? Or is it winding down? “I don’t want it to wind down until it is resolved. I am not looking for a quick fix. I want to keep this before people’s minds and deal with this problem—past, present, future.” What do you see as the long-term fallout from this scandal? Will the Church be harmed? Altered? “The whole Church is hurting, but this pain fades into insignificance compared to the devastation felt and experienced by victims and their families. Many of them continue to feel this pain which they sometimes endure for many years. Many scars have been left in people’s lives because of this. This abusive behavior must stop. “Perhaps, now we have an opportunity to do something for the Church and the world. This is a worldwide problem and we must all work to prevent the sexual, physical and mental abuse of children.” Should groups of lay people scrutinize candidates for the seminary and ordination? “Yes. Absolutely. In fact, in the Diocese of San Jose, we have a board which evaluates those seeking to enter the seminary. We have several lay people on that board along with priests and Religious.” |
