Pittsburgh, USA — The former chairman of a church abuse watchdog panel says he believes Roman Catholic bishops in the United States have taken steps that will nearly eliminate molestation.
Nicholas Cafardi, dean emeritus of the Duquesne University School of Law, has just completed a three-year term as a member and the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Review Board. The bishops’ conference established the board in 2002 to monitor the implementation of reforms to stem priestly molestation.
Although Cafardi said he encountered resistance during his work on the board, he said he believes the Catholic Church has set an example that other organizations should follow.
Cafardi, 56, had spent about 20 years as a canon and a civil lawyer for Catholic institutions before he was appointed to the board. He said he believes he was appointed to the panel because of a 1993 canon law review article advocating zero tolerance on child sexual abuse, citing the canonical right of the faithful not to be placed in harm’s way. Most canon scholars at the time argued for the canonical right of a priest to receive an assignment.
Cafardi said he learned early that while most bishops were behind the board’s work, some questioned the group’s existence, and about two dozen of the 195 diocesan bishops resisted the board’s work.
“To have some bishops fighting us every step of the way was disillusioning because we thought we were doing what the bishops asked us to do,” Cafardi told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for its Sunday edition. “They are men whose teaching authority I believe in. To just have them disdain our work or question our motives was very difficult.”
The resistant bishops weren’t trying to cover up ongoing abuse, but were reacting to what they perceived as lay encroachment on their canonical authority, Cafardi said.
Cafardi said his work on the board also taught him the pain caused by the abuse.
“The harm done by some priests to children in their care was ... I don’t know what to call it — it was more than reprehensible,” Cafardi said. “And the knowledge that some bishops turned a blind eye to this behavior makes you think things about the church you love that you would prefer not to think.”
Last week, conference president Bishop William Skylstad appointed Patricia O’Donnell Ewers to replace Cafardi as the chair of the board.