April 13, 2011

ARCHDIOCESE — Last Sept. 10, William A. Gavin, president of the Gavin Group Inc., wrote the following to Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr:
“The purpose of this letter is to advise you that the information requested of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for the recent data collection audit has been received by the Gavin Group Inc. We have reviewed the documents and forwarded them to the Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection for utilization in the 2010 Audit Report.

“Based on the fact that your archdiocese was found to be compliant with the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” as the result of the 2008 Full Audit, this finding of compliance will be continued for 2010. The next time your archdiocese receives a full on-site audit, the issue of compliance with the charter will be addressed in detail.” 

The Gavin Group Inc. of Winthrop, Mass., was retained by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to monitor dioceses’ compliance with the charter.

The archdiocese continues to act on accusations of child sexual abuse by priests as they are received. In 2010, four new allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were made against four priests of the archdiocese. All of the priests were previously accused. Three are deceased, and the fourth is permanently removed from ministry.

The archdiocese spent about $824,200 in 2010 on expenses related to allegations of child abuse by priests. As with earlier such expenditures, the money came from general untargeted revenues available, not from the parish weekly collection basket, not from the Catholic Ministries Appeal, and not from any other designated collection. Approximately $380,000 was spent in 2010 on child protection efforts such as training and criminal background checks.

Since 1993, more than 90,000 clergy, employees and volunteers have been trained in the provisions of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s Decree on Child Protection. Since 2003, more than 73,000 adults have had criminal background checks performed, including 57,000 currently working with children. 

Archbishop Schnurr urges anyone who was abused as a child by a priest or any other representative of the archdiocese, or knows someone who was, to report the abuse immediately to the secular legal authorities and to the Victim Assistance Coordinator of the archdiocese, Sister Mary Garke, at 513- 421-3131×2865 or 1-800-686-2724.