Review process hoped to serve as model for other provinces

A process for holding the church accountable for protecting children and vulnerable adults against abuse began July 1 in 10 dioceses in Minnesota and North and South Dakota.

St. Cloud Bishop John Kinney announced the Provincial Review Process June 14 at a media briefing on the second day of the U.S. bishops’ meeting in Dallas.

The process was developed under the leadership of St. Paul-Minneapolis Archbishop Harry Flynn for use in the Metropolitan Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which includes Minnesota’s six dioceses and two each in North and South Dakota.

"We have shared this process with our brother bishops and hope that it will serve as a model for other provinces in the country," Bishop Kinney said.

He said the process operates along three levels of review and accountability: national, provincial and diocesan. On the national level, each diocese will routinely measure its sexual misconduct policies and procedures against a set of principles articulated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The most recent policy is The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which the bishops passed over-whelmingly June 14.

Another is a set of volumes titled Restoring Trust, developed and distributed by the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse during the 1990s when Bishop Kinney was its chair.

On the provincial level, an independent Provincial Advisory Committee will be established "to review and audit the written policies and procedures of the dioceses of our province" every five years. The gender-balanced committee will consist of no fewer than 10 people from the province "representing a variety of professions, vocations, and those that may have been directly affected by sexual misconduct and abuse," according to the text of the Provincial Review Process.

On the diocesan level, "each of the dioceses of our province will retain an independent outside auditor to review the implementation of our diocesan policies and provide a published, annual report to the public," Bishop Kinney said.

"We bishops of the province are united in taking these strong steps," he said. "Our absolute goal is guaranteed accountability and greater involvement by the laity and independent, outside experts."

The means for selecting the members of the Provincial Advisory Committee and diocesan auditing groups will be determined by October 1, 2002, according to the review process text, and those people and groups will be in place by December 1. The first provincial review process for the dioceses will be completed no later than Oct. 1, 2003.

courtesy of St. Cloud Visitor