Opening Remarks Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Release of the second Report on the Implementation of the
Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People
February 18, 2005
Welcome to you all.
In being with you today, I am here to participate in the work of others who put together this second Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection and Young People.
I am deeply grateful for the work of Dr. Kathleen McChesney who developed the mass of material gathered in the audit process into a clear and compelling report.
I want to thank Mr. Bill Gavin and the Gavin Group for conducting a second audit of our dioceses and eparchies. It is an enormous undertaking, and we bishops appreciate your efforts conducting it in the last few months.
I want to thank Sister Mary Bendyna and the team at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate for their contribution which is new this year.
And my thanks go as well to Dr. Nicholas Cafardi and all the members of the National Review Board who certify to me that the report has achieved its goal.
To delve into a problem that has caused such pain to so many is a difficult and delicate task, but this team has done it with dedication and skill for which all my brother bishops and I are grateful.
In my preface to the study I recall an experience that I had at an open forum in my diocese. One of the men present said, “We are here because we love our Church.” At that moment there were many other things that could have been said. But that affirmation also explains why I am here today, representing my brother bishops. It is out of our love for the Church that we have taken the steps needed to confront the terrible problem of sexual abuse of young people by clergy, including providing the public with last year's report and with this year's.
I also want to express my gratitude to those who have come forward after suffering such abuse. We will never fully understand your suffering, but you have helped us to confront this most serious problem and to take the necessary steps to rid the Church of it.
Before I close I want to acknowledge that Dr. McChesney will be leaving the Conference shortly. We say that Kathleen came to us from a law enforcement background. As proud a background as that is, it does not fully convey the skill, talent, imagination, and, above all, the human insight and sympathy with which Kathleen took on the challenge that faced her and us. After only two years, it is hard to imagine another person doing this job.
Kathleen, to borrow a phrase from Scripture, you are “a marvel in our eyes” and you have our heartfelt gratitude.