The Tucson Roman Catholic Diocese is warning parishioners to prepare
themselves for some "upsetting" news next week when a nationwide study
of sexual abuse inflicted on children by American priests is released.
The much-anticipated survey on the toll of clergy abuse in the United
States will be released Friday by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops. A national board of prominent laypeople appointed by the
bishops group commissioned researchers from the John Jay College of
Criminal Justice in New York to collect self-reported data from the
country's 194 Roman Catholic dioceses and Eastern rite eparchies, which
are dioceses of the Eastern Catholic Church that report to the Vatican.
They are also part of the bishops conference.
"The results of the John Jay study are likely to be upsetting, even
shocking," Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas wrote in a letter to be
released to parishioners this weekend.
A report from CNN earlier this week that cited a leaked early draft of
the study said 4,450 priests out of 110,000 who have served since 1950
have been accused of sexually abusing minors. If those numbers are
accurate and the accusations credible, that would mean 4 percent of
priests are accused of being molesters - far more than the 1 percent
church officials had previously thought. Kicanas said he could not
comment on the CNN numbers because he hasn't seen the study.
Tucson has had its share of bad news from a national scandal that
erupted in 2002. The Diocese of Tucson, which includes 350,000 Catholics
in nine counties, has made public the names of 26 clerics and one nun
who have "credible" accusations of child sexual abuse against them. And
last summer three priests who once worked in the local diocese were sent
to prison for sexually abusing young boys.
In an interview Friday, Kicanas, chairman of the U.S. Conference's
Communications Committee, stressed that Tucsonans will not find anything
about the local scandal that has not already been publicized.
"Certainly there won't be anything new in terms of our diocese, but when
you look at a cumulative report, it's unprecedented, and it's likely to
be upsetting. You are looking at multiple figures covering a
half-century," Kicanas said.
"Really, when you think about it, if even one priest abuses a child,
that's shocking. If it's hundreds of priests, that's even more shocking.
We don't know what the figures are going to be but it can be expected to
be upsetting."
Kicanas said that if other professionals like teachers, therapists or
physicians were to do similar studies on misconduct, they would likely
also result in shocking numbers.
"No profession has ever been scrutinized to this degree," Kicanas said.
The Southern Arizona chapter of the victims group Survivors Network of
Those Abused by Priests - SNAP - is encouraging members to attend a
meeting Monday night that will focus on preparing survivors for the
study.
"There are people behind these numbers," group director Jim Parker said.
"I hope the survivors really get a sense of the magnitude of this
problem and take a stand."
Parker is skeptical of the study because it was commissioned by the
church.
"This is a survey done by the very people who have been trying to cover
this up. I don't even know that the numbers are accurate. I doubt they
are."
The John Jay study is the second report on clergy abuse in the American
Roman Catholic Church released this year. The first was an audit that
measured compliance with a national charter on sexual abuse that was
adopted by U.S. bishops in 2002. Like a majority of dioceses, the local
diocese got glowing praise in the audit. But many victims of clergy
abuse felt it was biased and said they hoped the John Jay report would
be more objective.
In a Feb. 13 letter about the study to priests in the diocese, Kicanas
said the results reflect a desire by bishops around the country to "know
the facts and face them directly."
Tucson is one of a very small number of dioceses in the country that
released a public list of clerics with credible accusations of child
sexual abuse against them, said Dr. Terence Carden, a retired Tucson
physician who attends St. Pius X Catholic Church, 1800 N. Camino Pio
Decimo.
Carden coordinates the local chapter of Voice of the Faithful, a group
of lay Catholics that formed in the wake of Boston's clergy sexual abuse
scandal.
"In Tucson I think we know everything. As far as the rest of the study,
I think there are going to be places like here and then places where
they are not so forthcoming," Carden said.
He said the pervasiveness of the scandal has been extremely difficult
for parishioners.
"I do think it's a hard thing for people, even people disgusted by what
has happened. Many find it hard to accept or even come to grips with."
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