Book Reviews2 Before Dallas: The U.S. Bishops’ Response to Clergy Sexual Abuse of Children

May 30, 2008

Book written by: Nicholas P. Cafardi

 

This book examines the history of sexual abuse perpetrated by a small percentage of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States before the U.S. Bishops’ meeting in Dallas in 2002.  At the meeting, the bishops created the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People - also known as the Dallas Charter and Norm.  The author, Nicholas P. Cafardi, is a loyal Catholic who is a canon and civil lawyer.  He was the second chairman of the National Review Board and presents this historical synopsis of the sexual abuse in the Catholic Church from the days of the Early Church up to 2002.

 

In the first chapter, Cafardi presents the history of how the Catholic Church dealt with sexual abuse of children by its clergy.  He begins with the New Testament and continues to the current edition of Canon Law.  He demonstrates in clear terms how the Church dealt with abusers of children.  The investigation, trial and punishment varied over time.  He shows that the 1983 Code of Canon Law is not as clear about how to deal with this problem.

 

In chapter two, Cafardi examines the sexual abuse cases in the United States starting with the 1984 case in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana then with cases in the dioceses of Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1991, Fall River, Massachusetts in 1992, Dallas, Texas in 1997, and Boston in 2002. 

 

Cafardi next examines why the U.S. Bishops did not use the Canon Law process to remove abusive clergy.  Much of the problem was that Canon Law became harder for the bishops and U.S. Canon Lawyers to understand how to prosecute an abuser under the 1983 Code.  The American bishops and canon lawyers were familiar and comfortable to use it when it involved marriages and such, but were uncomfortable to use it to prosecute abusive priests since they were not as familiar with this part of the Code.  Another problem was that the victims of abuse needed to be involved with the process.  The victim would have to re-tell their abuse and many did not want to put the victims through that again.  Many times the victim’s cooperation was not sought.  The bishops also were encouraged by their civil lawyers not to contact the victims.  Many bishops wanted to provide pastoral care and other services to the victims.  Many also wanted to just apologize, but their civil lawyers advised against it.  Cafardi also examines why the bishops did not use the permission they had to begin a quicker process to remove an abusive priests.  The Vatican in 1962 had sent out an instruction to the bishops of the world that said that the Holy Office, the predecessor to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, had jurisdiction over sexual abuse crimes committed by the clergy.  The bishops were informed not to make this instruction public, but to place the instruction in their archives.  Many of the bishops who received this were either dead, retired, incapacitated, or had forgotten about it by 2002.  It was remembered by someone in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and made public.  If the bishops had remembered this instruction maybe many removals of abusive clergy could have been done quicker.

 

In chapter four, Cafardi examines what the bishops did to help prevent abuse or to deal with situations when abuse was reported.  The national bishops’ conference in the 1990s set up a committee to investigate what could be done about this problem on a national level and to present possible policies to remedy this problem.

 

Unfortunately the committee’s recommendations were not accepted by the national conference.  However, some bishops decided on their own to create policies for their dioceses based on the committee’s recommendations.  Ignoring of the committee’s recommendations would come back to haunt many bishops in 2002.

 

Next, the author explores how most bishops and religious orders dealt with perpetrators of abuse.  Oftentimes, an abuser would be sent to a psychological treatment center for priests and religious.  The abuser would go through the treatment program and would be allowed to return to his diocese where the bishop would assign him to another parish.  The bishops were told by the therapists that the abuser was safe to be allowed to minister again.  Unfortunately, many times the abuser would abuse again and the process would start over. 

 

Most of the time, the bishops relied too heavily on therapists to allow abusers to return to ministry.  Cafardi discusses what was happening with therapy centers and how they allowed patients to minister outside the center at nearby parishes where some continued abusing children.

 

In the sixth and final chapter Cafardi reviews what the American bishops had learned from the events before 2002.  They learned that they need to act quickly and publicly when an accusation is presented to them.  They have learned not to sweep things under the carpet, but to deal with the situation.  They have also learned to offer and provide pastoral and other legitimate aid to victims.  They also have learned to have a policy and procedural plan for sexual misconduct committed by anyone working with their dioceses.  This was a costly and very disturbing lesson for them to learn.

 

Nicholas Cafardi has presented a thorough historical synopsis of the child abuse response of the American bishops.  He has examined the issue from a canonical, civil law, and historical points of view.  This book is highly recommended to those interested in the history of the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal and what was or was not done by the bishops.

 

Nicholas P. Cafardi is dean emeritus of the Duquesne University School of Law.  He received his undergraduate degree from the Gregorian University in Rome, his master’s degree in philosophy from Duquesne University, his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh and his licentiate in canon law from the University of St. Thomas in Rome.  He was an original member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Youth (otherwise known as the National Review Board) and was its second chairman till June 2005.  He is the author of Tax Exempt Organizations (2008), Understanding Nonprofit and Tax Exempt Organizations (2006), Legal Process and Procedure (2002), and coauthored with Cardinal Adam Maida, Church Property, Church Finances, and Church-Related Corporations (1983).

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