Eparchy of
St. Maron of Brooklyn, New York
The Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn (“the Eparchy”) was established in 1971 and includes 33 parishes throughout the United States, located within 29 different Latin Rite dioceses; 13 deacons, 38 active priests and one seminary serve a population of 30,000 registered Catholics. The Most Reverend Stephen Hector Doueihi, who was installed as bishop in 1997, leads the Eparchy. A compliance audit of the Eparchy was conducted during the period of October 6-10, 2003.

Findings

To Promote Healing and Reconciliation
The Eparchy established an outreach program in May 2003 with considerable input from the review board, but it has not implemented components of the program, including the appointment of a victim assistance coordinator. The review board was established, consisting of a diverse group of individuals with excellent credentials; however, the board has never met. An Instruction was issued for the Eparchy to appoint a victim assistance coordinator, and a Recommendation was made that a meeting of the review board be convened. The bishop, or his designee, is committed to meeting with victims/survivors who may report abuse. The Eparchy has not entered into any confidentiality agreements since June 2002.

To Guarantee Effective Response to Allegations of Abuse of a Minor
There have been no reports of sexual abuse since June 2002, but the policy of the Eparchy is to report any such allegations to civil authorities in the locality of the parish and to fully cooperate with those authorities. The Eparchy has a procedure in place to advise victims/survivors of their right to report allegations of abuse by a member of the clergy to civil authorities. The Eparchy does not have an adequate, clear, and well-publicized code of conduct for priests and deacons, and an Instruction was issued to rectify this. The Eparchy has a communications policy that is open and transparent. To further this effort, a Recommendation was issued that the Eparchy include its sexual abuse prevention policy and related communications on its website.

To Ensure Accountability of Procedures
The Eparchy has not responded to the research study regarding the “nature and scope” of the problem of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. An Instruction was issued for the Eparchy to submit the required information.

To Protect the Faithful in the Future
The Eparchy has not selected or developed a safe environment program, and an Instruction was issued that this be accomplished. There is also no program or policy for evaluating the backgrounds of personnel and volunteers having regular contact with children and young people. An Instruction was issued that a program and policy be established and initiated to rectify this. The Eparchy has not transferred any priest who has had a credible allegation made against him to another ministerial assignment, or for purposes of residency in another eparchy. One priest, convicted by civil authorities, has had his faculties removed and his current whereabouts are unknown. The bishop is a member of the New York Conference of Catholic Bishops wherein issues regarding the sexual abuse of children have been discussed. The Eparchy has not been a party to the conduct of research relating to the sexual abuse of children. Programs for screening and evaluating candidates for ordination and for ongoing formation are in place and being utilized.

Compliance with the Provisions of the Charter

At the conclusion of this audit, the Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn was issued six Instructions and two Recommendations.

INSTRUCTION 1—The Eparchy should finalize outreach responsibilities.

INSTRUCTION 2—The Eparchy should appoint a victim assistance coordinator.

INSTRUCTION 3—The Eparchy should ensure that the code of conduct is expanded, more clearly articulated, and publicized.

INSTRUCTION 4—The Eparchy should complete and submit responses to the “nature and scope” study of sexual abuse of children.

INSTRUCTION 5—The Eparchy should implement a safe environment program and make clear the standards of conduct for all people having regular contact with children and young people.

INSTRUCTION 6—The Eparchy should establish a procedure to evaluate the backgrounds of personnel having regular contact with children and young people.

RECOMMENDATION 1—That the Eparchy convene a meeting of the review board.

RECOMMENDATION 2—That the eparchial sexual abuse prevention policy be included on the website.

As of December 1, 2003, Instructions 1, 2, 3, and 4 and Recommendations 1 and 2 had been addressed. Instructions 5 and 6 had been partially addressed. The Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn is compliant with the Charter as measured by the process described in Chapter 2 in Section I, with the exception of Articles 12 and 13.


The compliance audit measured activity that has occurred since the adoption of the Charter in June 2002 with the exception of certain mandated actions found in Articles 5 and 14. Actions taken by the diocese/eparchy prior to June 2002 to address allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests and deacons are not included in this summary report.




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Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194
(202) 541-5413 | FAX: (202) 541-5410
Email: ocyp@usccb.org