Monday October 11, 2004

Worcester Diocese establishes rules for working with children

The Associated Press
WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester has issued a formal code of conduct for priests and other diocesan employees and volunteers who work with children and teenagers.

Bishop Robert McManus published the Code of Ministerial Conduct on Friday and sent letters to all parishes. The document, the result of 15 months of consultations, becomes official diocesan law on Tuesday and will be reviewed after a year.

The rules, among other things, prohibit any physical contact with a youth except for handshakes and "high-fives" and encourage church workers to avoid being alone with youths.

The Diocese of Worcester has faced more than a dozen lawsuits in recent years alleging sexual abuse by priests. The diocese reported that 45 priests have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct since 1960, and $2.3 million dollars has been paid since then to settle lawsuits.

Among other things, the Code prohibits:

- Speaking to children and youth "in a way that is or could be construed by any observer as being threatening, intimidating, shaming, derogatory, demeaning or humiliating."

- Supplying or using alcohol or illegal drugs when working with minors, except for sacramental wine used during Mass;

- Engaging in sexually oriented conversations with minors. The exception is when youth ministry or other church leaders hold approved discussions with teenagers that address human sexuality issues related to dating and sex.

- Going on vacations or overnight trips with minors, other than their own children, unless another adult is present.

Those who violate the new code will be subject to remedial or disciplinary action "up to and including appropriate canonical penalties for clergy and termination of employment or volunteer ministry with the church."

The code states that bishops, clergy and deacons are held "to higher standards of behavior" than other church workers because of the work they do and because of their positions. Clergy must adhere to the code and must avoid "even the appearance of impropriety both inside and outside the scope of their ministry," the code says.

Diocese adopts Code of Conduct
By Tanya Connor

Sexual conduct, harassment, boundaries and conflicts of interest are issues addressed by a new diocesan law which goes into effect Tuesday.

The new law is called the “Code of Ministerial Conduct for the Diocese of Worcester.” It was developed “to articulate the expectations that we have of all who serve in church ministry,” Bishop McManus said in a letter to the diocese.

The code applies to all full-time and part-time employees of the diocese when they are on duty, whether or not they have any contact with minors (persons under age 18), according to Patricia Engdahl, director of the diocesan Office for Healing and Prevention, which is responsible for implementing the code. She said the code also applies to all volunteers who have regular contact with minors.

The code of conduct is part of the Worcester Diocese’s response to a mandate issued to Catholic dioceses and eparchies around the nation in 2002 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in their “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

Article 6 in the Charter says: “While the priestly commitment to the virtue of chastity and the gift of celibacy is well known, there will be clear and well-publicized diocesan/eparchial standards of ministerial behavior and appropriate boundaries for clergy and for any other church personnel in positions of trust who have regular contact with children and young people.”

A decree printed with the new code mentions both the national Charter and the “Policy on the Sexual Abuse of Minors” which Bishop Reilly decreed on May 30, 2002 as particular law for the Worcester Diocese. Particular law is a law made for a particular territory or group of the faithful. The decree says the new code is also particular law for the Worcester Diocese and is to take effect Oct. 12.

“This Code is decreed ad experimentum for one year, in order that a broad consultation be undertaken among the lay faithful, consecrated persons, and clergy of the Diocese,” the decree says. It says the results of this consultation are to be forwarded to those reviewing and revising the “Policy on the Sexual Abuse of Minors,” and a permanent code is to be adopted within a year.

The policy and the code are two different types of documents. The policy tells how the diocese has addressed sexual abuse, such as by establishing the Office for Healing and Prevention and the Pastoral Care Committee. The code spells out how diocesan workers are to avoid abuses of minors and others they minister to or with and tells how to handle violations. “Our primary goal remains the protection of children,” said Mrs. Engdahl. “It’s a goal that requires us to examine and establish effective standards of awareness, practice and behavior for safe environments in all contexts of the life and mission of our church.”

Mrs. Engdahl said that more than a year ago she developed the code’s first draft with Msgr. F. Stephen Pedone, judicial vicar/vicar for canonical affairs, and Father Rocco Piccolomini, vicar for clergy. They used information from other dioceses and from the “Model Code of Pastoral Conduct” published by The National Catholic Risk Retention Group Inc. and given to dioceses by the USCCB Office for Child and Youth Protection, she said.

They gave copies of their draft to the diocesan Pastoral Care Committee, which gave suggestions, she said. Based on these recommendations, the first draft was revised, then given to department heads, and to presbyteral council members to distribute to priests in their deaneries.

These people gave their input, Mrs. Engdahl said, and she shared it with the Pastoral Care Committee. After Bishop McManus came to the diocese she showed him the draft. She made some clarifications and then the code was printed in its present form.

Wednesday it was distributed to diocesan priests, department heads, Catholic school headmasters and some principals so they could read it before people start asking them questions about it, Mrs. Engdahl said.

It is published in today’s edition of The Catholic Free Press and it is to be posted on the diocesan Web site (www.worcesterdiocese.org).

The code will also be available at the Catholic Ministries Convention Oct. 14 at Holy Name Central Catholic High School, where Mrs. Engdahl is to go over it with teachers, and Oct. 15 and Oct. 16 at a ministries convention booth in the Centrum Centre. It can be obtained from the Office for Healing and Prevention in the Chancery too.

To ensure that people read the code and understand their obligation to abide by it, there is an acknowledgement form for them to sign by Dec. 12, Mrs. Engdahl said. Priests are to send theirs to Father Piccolomini. Diocesan employees and volunteers are to give theirs to their supervisors, who will forward a list of their names to Mrs. Engdahl and keep the signed forms on file in case the diocese needs them for audit purposes.

The code says people working for the diocese “must uphold Christian values and conduct.” Clergy are held to higher standards than other church personnel because of “the grave responsibilities associated with their work and positions,” it says. So they are not only expected to comply with the code but to “avoid even the appearance of impropriety both inside and outside the scope of their ministry.”

“We have a responsibility to witness in all relationships to the chastity appropriate to our state in life, whether celibate, married of single,” the introduction says. “We must avoid any covert or overt sexual behaviors with those for whom we have a professional or pastoral responsibility. … We must show prudent discretion before touching another person, since we cannot control how physical touch will be received.”

The code gives details about how to treat minors, from not intimidating them to not going alone on vacation with them to not transporting them without written permission from their parents or guardians. Some details are in response to questions asked repeatedly at the safe environment workshops diocesan workers were required to attend, Mrs. Engdahl said.

The code also talks about how to treat staff, parishioners and counselees, from not harassing them to not taking advantage of them to not creating an offensive working environment. Church personnel should maintain clear boundaries and confidentiality and avoid conflicts of interest, it says.

Church personnel have a duty to report violations of the code, it says, and must “hold each other accountable for maintaining the highest ethical and professional standards.”

Those who make such reports will not be subjected to retaliation, the code says. It says investigations into allegations “will be conducted thoroughly and expeditiously, with objectivity, fairness, and justice as well as with due regard for the privacy and reputations of all involved … by trained individuals in accordance with Church law.”

Those who engage in unethical behavior or otherwise don’t abide by the standards will be subjected to “appropriate remedial and/or disciplinary action,” the code says. It says pastoral care will be provided for them, the victims, and the affected institutions

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