The Archdiocese
of Philadelphia, embroiled in a child sex abuse scandal in both criminal
and civil courts, announced on Tuesday a new training program for some
24,000 priests, employees and volunteers on how to report sexual abuse.
Leslie Davila, director of the
archdiocese child and youth protection office, said the training, based
on state law and conducted by the firm Network of Victim Assistance,
began on Monday.
It will include 90 sessions in 40 locations through November.
Davila said the church remains dedicated to the "goal of promoting awareness regarding the safety of children."
The
Archdiocese, the sixth largest in the United States, with 1.5 million
Catholics, is under fire over accusations it concealed the sexual abuse
of children by priests in an effort to avoid a costly scandal.
Some met the announcement with skepticism.
Marci
Hamilton, one of the lawyers who filed six civil sexual abuse lawsuits
against the church, said the training was based on the state's child
protection laws, which she said are unclear when it comes to clergy
members.
She feared they might invoke "pastoral privilege" to remain silent, and avoid reporting suspected abuse.
Hamilton
instead proffered a more direct and unambiguous approach, advising the
archdiocese to "just tell them to do it. They don't need any training
sessions. Call your local police, and that's it."
But
a victim services consultant to the church, Mary Achilles, said in a
statement that the training represented a fundamental shift in the
responsibility for reporting abuse, from children to adults.
Components
of the training include the definition of abuse, indications of abuse
and neglect, how to make a report on abuse and criminal consequences of
failing to report abuse.
In
addition to the six civil suits, a Philadelphia grand jury issued a
scathing report in January on the conduct of some priests and the
archdiocese, denouncing what it called "rapist priests."
"The
procedures implemented by the Archdiocese to help victims are in fact
designed to help the abusers, and the Archdiocese itself," it said.
"Worst
of all, apparent abusers -- dozens of them, we believe -- remain on
duty in the Archdiocese, today, with open access to new young prey."
Three priests, a monsignor and a Catholic teacher are facing criminal charges as a result of the report.
Since
then the church has placed 27 priests on administrative leave in
connection with accusations, and because of the manner in which the
church reviewed them.