A Catholic bishop
is enlisting the help of a former U.S. attorney to investigate alleged
sexual improprieties by priests in the Diocese of Kansas City-St.
Joseph.
Bishop Robert Finn announced on
Thursday that Todd Graves, recently the U.S. Attorney for the Western
District of Missouri, will look into allegations against the Reverend
Shawn F. Ratigan, charged with possessing child pornography. Ratigan has
pleaded not guilty.
Graves, former
co-chair of the Child Exploitation Working Group for the Department of
Justice, will also review the diocese's codes governing ethics and
sexual misconduct, Finn said in a news release.
Finn said his goal is to bring clarity to the "shame, anger and confusion" that surrounds Ratigan's arrest May 19.
Finn
has come under fire for not heeding warnings about Ratigan and he has
apologized repeatedly in recent weeks.
Numerous lawsuits have been filed
against the diocese in recent years for failing to prevent sexual abuse
of minors by priests.
Besides
appointing Graves, the diocese has stepped up its review process of any
allegations against clergy.
It will appoint an independent public
liaison and ombudsman to investigate reports of misconduct and it will
do a detailed review of personnel training, Finn said.
"These are initial steps," Finn stated. "Other actions are forthcoming."
The
Missouri announcement came on the same day the beleaguered Catholic
Archdiocese of Philadelphia named a new head of child protection, hiring
her away from the prosecutor's office pursuing charges in a spiraling
priest sex abuse case.
Leslie Davila will lead the Office of Child and Youth Protection, the archdiocese announced.
Until
now, Davila had been victim assistance coordinator for the Philadelphia
District Attorney, responsible for protecting young people and
overseeing efforts to heal those sexually abused as minors.
The
prosecutor's office oversaw a grand jury that earlier this year issued a
scathing report on how the church has handled the scandal.
The jury had
identified 37 cases of abuse and the investigation resulted in criminal
charges against four priests and a school church teacher.