Although a new report on the
causes and context of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy says it is
primarily a historical problem, the church must guard against
complacency, two key figures in the release of the report said at a
Washington news conference.
"There is no room for fatigue or feeling that people have heard enough
when it comes to efforts to protect children," said Bishop Blase J.
Cupich of Spokane, Wash., chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on the
Protection of Children and Young People.
Diane Knight, a retired Milwaukee social worker who chairs the all-lay
National Review Board, said the report's findings that the church's
actions since 2002 have been "effective in preventing further acts of
abuse" should in no way "lull us as a church into complacency."
"There will always be adults who are attracted to children in society
and in the church," Knight said. "Thus, we must always be on guard and
do all that is possible to prevent sexual abuse."
The two spoke May 18 following the release of a report by the John Jay
College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York on "The
Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the
United States, 1950-2010." The report was commissioned by the National
Review Board as part of its mandate under the bishops' 2002 "Charter for
the Protection of Children and Young People."
They were joined at an afternoon news conference in the headquarters of
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops by Karen Terry, principal
investigator for the John Jay study.
"The problem of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests in the United
States is largely historical, and the bulk of cases occurred decades
ago," Terry said.
But, she added, "the vulnerability to abuse remains a risk in any
organization where adults form mentoring and nurturing relationships
with minors."
In response to a question, Terry stressed that the report was prepared
independently by the John Jay researchers, without any influence on the
findings from the bishops or the National Review Board.
"We did the work, we did the writing, we came to the conclusions," she said.