Media Briefings by Sexual Abuse Experts Part of Dallas Meeting
WASHINGTON (June 10, 2002) – Media briefings on sexual abuse issues will be part of the Dallas meeting of the U.S. Bishops.
One briefing, on canon law issues, will take place June 12, at 8 p.m.
Four others will take place the afternoon of June 13, and address the psychological aspects of sexual abuse, the response to victims, the financial structures and prevention programs.
Presenters on canon law include Archbishop John Myers of Newark and Bishop Joseph Galante, canon lawyers and members of the bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse, and Father John Renkin, of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, and a consultant to the ad hoc committee.
The bishops' meeting also will include presentations for media on related questions on the psychological aspects of sexual abuse, the response to victims, the "Catholic dollar," and prevention programs.
Presenters on the Psychological Aspects of Sexual Abuse include Fred Berlin, MD, Ph.D.; Father Stephen Rossetti, Ph.D.; president and CEO of the St. Luke Institute, a treatment center in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Conventual Franciscan Father Canice Connors, president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, former president and CEO of the St. Luke Institute and former director of Southdown Treatment Center in Ontario, Canada.
Presenters on the Response to Victims include Michael Bland, Psy.D., D. Min., Clinical-Pastoral Coordinator for the Office of Assistance Ministry, Archdiocese of Chicago; and Phyllis Willerscheidt, coordinator of efforts for pastoral outreach to victims of clergy sexual abuse, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Presenters on the "Catholic dollar" include Philip Ries, director of finance, Diocese of Orange in California; Kevin Heffernan, chief financial officer, Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, and Deacon John Benware, chief financial officer, Diocese of Savannah, Georgia.
Presenters on Prevention include Michael Bemi, president and CEO of the National Catholic Risk Retention Groups, and Dominican Sister Glenn Anne McPhee, USCCB Secretary for Education, and Father Edward Burns, director of the USCCB Secretariat for Vocations and Priestly Formation.