Nwe York, USA - The former FBI agent who served for three years as head of child protection for the nation's Roman Catholic bishops says dioceses should find work for priests accused of child molestation who have been permanently removed from public ministry.
In an article in the Nov. 20 issue of the Jesuit magazine America, Kathleen McChesney wrote that the bishops' decision in 2002 to remove the men from all church work was sound. But she fears that without any structure, accused priests may lose self-esteem and be more likely to re-offend.
"While removing such priests from ministry is prudent and necessary, it is also essential to provide them with meaningful and time-consuming work," she wrote. "It is possible, though difficult, to assign such men to work that contributes to the church's mission of serving others without placing the offender or alleged offender in a position of unsupervised contact with minors or vulnerable adults."
David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said he was disappointed by McChesney's suggestion because it leaves church leaders in charge of the clergy. He said McChesney should instead help lobby for extensions of statutes of limitation so accused priests can be prosecuted.
"Reforming archaic, predator-friendly laws — not rehiring molesters — should be McChesney's priority and every Catholics' priority," Clohessy said. "That's the most effective way to expose and jail dangerous serial offenders."
McChesney acknowledged it is difficult to find roles for clergy where they will not have access to children. She suggested dioceses seek guidance on the issue from experts on sex offenders and look to U.S. religious orders that have found roles for the priests.
Any plan to give the men jobs will only succeed if the priests are closely monitored and if the diocese tells the public as much as possible about its plan for the accused clergy, she said.