TYPES OF PRESENTATION TO THE DIOCESES
|
The most common way that it is made known to the Ordinary that a cleric
|
may have a sexual disorder such as pedophilia is for a parent of a
|
child to go to their local Pastor, Chancery official or the Bishop
|
himself and express concern or make an accusation against a cleric
|
for sexually touching or molesting their child. To date, this kind
|
of presentation has been the most helpful one for us all since usually
|
the parent is Roman Catholic and confused, concerned about the child
|
and also confused and concerned about the priest or cleric.
|
Another presentation may be simply an attorney calling the Chancery
|
and informing the Bishop that a criminal action has been filed or
|
a civil suit has been filed against one of his clerics. This is a
|
most distasteful and dangerous way in which the information can come
|
to the attention of the Ordinary. In general, and please make sure
|
you understand me here, it has been my experience that such presentations
|
come only when the Ordinary has already been aware of sexual misbehaviors
|
before and no action has been taken in the past except perhaps to
|
move the cleric to a new assignment.
|
The least common, but most helpful, presentation is when the cleric
|
himself comes to his Ordinary and admits that he has sexual difficulties
|
that could endanger himself legally as well as jeopardize the Diocese
|
as an entity. We have only seen this in the recent past where Ordinaries
|
have done workshops in their Dioceses educating their clerics and
|
administrators or schools abou the disease of pedophilia, incest,
|
physical child abuse. Clerics have come forward after such compassionate
|
presentations. and asked for help. It is for this reason, and many
|
others, that I would advise that every Diocese in the U.S. in the
|
next year have such a presentation done by an attorney, a psychiatrist
|
who is familiar with this disease (very few psychiatrists know anything
|
about pedophilia), and the Ordinary himself.
|
|
