‘HARMFUL TO VICTIMS’

Catholic Church Sex-Abuse Review Boards Don’t Work: Report

A new investigation shows how review boards have failed victims, favored saving church money, and undermined secular investigations.

The Catholic Church’s review boards for clerical sex abuse are ultimately harmful to victims, an investigation by the Associated Press suggests. The AP looked at review boards in 180 dioceses across the U.S. and interviewed 75 victims. The investigation found that the boards generally tend to favor saving the church money, often by rejecting complaints from survivors to try to dissuade them from going to secular authorities. Many victims interviewed by the AP said they faced hostility and humiliation in front of the boards. In almost all cases, bishops appointed church-friendly defense lawyers to the boards, and determine which cases will be heard, what evidence is seen, and what the criteria is to decide if an allegation is deemed “substantiated” or “credible” by the board. The AP said it found that, in many cases, bishops rejected the review findings if they were favorable to the victim. “It’s a fraud. It’s a sham. It’s a cover-up,” said one victim from Florida, who told a review board about his abuse only to have it rejected. “There’s no one on the board that cares for the victim... it’s all about protecting the church.”