Editorial

The Catholic Church in the United States has accomplished a great deal in the past year and a half to protect children from sexual abuse, according to the first national audit report released Jan. 6. (See articles on page 18 for further information [print edition only].)

We can be proud that the Diocese of Madison is one of the dioceses that has complied with the provisions of the U.S. bishops' Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. An auditing team visited Madison in 2003, spending four days here. They interviewed people and examined the diocese's sexual abuse policies. The audit team made three recommendations for improving the diocese's policies.

As of Dec. 1, 2003, all recommendations had been addressed. "The Diocese of Madison is found to be compliant with the provisions of the Charter," says the report.

Madison in compliance. The national audit report notes that our diocese has had a prevention policy on sexual abuse of minors since 1993. It was revised in 2002 and again in 2003. This policy was published in the Dec. 11th issue of the Catholic Herald.

The Madison Diocese has a lay review board and a victim assistance coordinator. The audit points out that the diocesan policy "provides for the immediate reporting of all allegations to the appropriate authorities" and "has a procedure for advising victims/survivors of their right to report allegations of sexual abuse by a member of the clergy to civil authorities."

The diocese has established a clear and well-publicized code of conduct for priests, deacons, and other church personnel who have regular contact with children, the audit notes. The diocese is in the process of implementing, through VIRTUS, a series of safe environment seminars for presentation to all clergy and all adults having regular contact with children.

In addition, the Diocese of Madison has a program in place to complete background investigations on all members of the clergy and all diocesan and parish personnel who have regular contact with minors.

Tremendous effort. Nearly 90 percent of the dioceses in the United States join the Diocese of Madison in complying with the bishops' national policy. As Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, president of the USCCB has said, the report indicates that Catholic dioceses "have put a tremendous effort into making the charter very much a part of the life of the church since the (June 2002) Dallas meeting."

It is a very good start, but more must be done to ensure a safe environment in our Catholic churches and schools. The audit report includes a list of recommendations to improve the church's response to the sexual abuse issue.

Among the recommendations is a new external national study of victims and survivors to identify better methods for responding to complaints of sexual abuse. It also suggests that sexual abuse awareness, prevention, and response be strengthened at the level of parishes, schools, and local church facilities - where young people are most involved.

All members of the Catholic Church should be aware of what is being done to prevent sexual abuse and support the policies now in place. We must do everything we can to make sure our children will be safe in the years ahead.

Mary C. Uhler, editor

Mailbag

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To the editor:

I just read Bishop Robert C. Morlino's lengthy column on The Da Vinci Code, and I am saddened that he spent so much time, energy, and space on this topic when he could have used his week-before-Christmas column more profitably.

The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, a point which seems to get lost during the course of his column. His polemics on the book only draw attention to something not worth his efforts. I have read and enjoyed it, and my take on it is not unlike the bishop's, but why waste one's energy on it? A line or two about The Da Vinci Code would have been more than enough to dismiss it.

A much more profitable exercise for the bishop would have been to use another fictional work, The Lord of the Rings, to talk about freedom, sacrifice, suffering, and victory over evil - all Christian themes, all appropriate to this time of the year as we celebrate the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. The final motion picture adaptation of the trilogy was released this week, an apropos time to teach as Jesus did: with love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, hope, grace, and an uplifting spirit - not diatribes.

Marie Daecher, Madison