Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Friday 21 September 2018
Cardinal hires judge to review church sex abuse policies

By KAREN MATTHEWS Abused by Priests, said that
NEW YORK (AP) — Hoping "no kind of sham investiga-
to restore the faith of those tion by the archbishop will
disillusioned by how the get us one step closer to
church has handled sexual helping survivors and pro-
abuse allegations, the Ro- tecting children."
man Catholic Archdiocese Jones, 71, who has repeat-
of New York appointed a edly served in roles calling
former federal judge Thurs- for an outside independent
day to review its proce- monitor or arbiter, said she
dures and protocols. has already begun an ini-
Cardinal Timothy Dolan an- tial review of archdiocese
nounced the appointment efforts going back over 25
of Barbara Jones, saying years.
many Catholics had told "Based upon this review I
him they were feeling let certainly see a robust infra-
down by the church's hier- structure in place with the
archy after a "summer of archdiocese," she said. "But
hell." The string of bad news my job now will be to evalu-
has included a Pennsylva- ate the effectiveness of the
nia grand jury report de- existing programs and poli-
tailing widespread sexual cies in that infrastructure."
abuse and systematic cov- Jones said her purview
er-up by church officials in Cardinal Timothy Dolan addresses a news conference at the offices of the New York Archdio- would include policies on
that state, and revelations cese, in New York, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York said workplace harassment and
Thursday that it has hired former federal judge Barbara Jones, left, to review its procedures and
about sexual abuse alle- protocols for handling allegations of sexual abuse. abuse of authority involv-
gations against a former Associated Press ing adults in addition to the
archbishop, Theodore Mc- sexual abuse of minors.
Carrick. Barbara Underwood issued state investigation during over their allegations of be- Jones, who left the Man-
The move also comes two subpoenas to all eight of his news conference, in- ing sexually abused as boys hattan federal bench in
weeks after New York's at- the state's Roman Catho- stead citing pressure from by a teacher at a Catholic 2013, finished her work only
torney general announced lic dioceses for documents ordinary Catholics. church. weeks ago as a court-ap-
a comprehensive investi- containing information on "If I lost the trust of my peo- The New York Archdio- pointed special master who
gation of how the church abuse allegations and how ple and this community, cese covers Manhattan, helped review millions of
and its leaders handled they were investigated and I don't have a lot left," he the Bronx and Staten Is- documents and files seized
abuse allegations across handled. said. land in New York City, as by the FBI from President
the state. Attorney General Dolan didn't mention the He told Jones, who ap- well as the state counties Donald Trump's former per-
peared alongside him at of Dutchess, Orange, Put- sonal lawyer, Michael Co-
the news conference, that nam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ul- hen. Her role was to referee
he was praying her "care- ster and Westchester north disputes over which docu-
ful review and hard ques- of the city. It is the nation's ments were protected by
tions will help my good second-largest archdio- attorney-client privilege.
people renew their trust in cese after Los Angeles. Jones was an assistant U.S.
the church they love and Advocates for survivors of attorney in Manhattan and
the leaders they want to abuse said any effort to chief assistant to former
believe." curb abuse that's commis- Manhattan District Attor-
The step is the latest the sioned by church authori- ney Robert M. Morgenthau
Manhattan-based archdi- ties is unlikely to produce before she was appointed
ocese has taken to assure meaningful results. a judge in 1995 by Presi-
the faithful that it is seri- Anne Barrett Doyle, co- dent Bill Clinton. As a fed-
ous about reform — while director of the Massachu- eral prosecutor, she served
simultaneously opposing setts-based BishopAc- as chief of the Organized
proposed changes to New countability.org, called the Crime Strike Force Unit.
York law that would ease New York archdiocese one After leaving the bench,
certain time limits on civil of the most secretive in the she joined the law firm
lawsuits and make it easier country when it comes to Bracewell, where she has
for people abused a long abuse. specialized in white collar
time ago to sue the church. "If there is a chance of mak- defense and internal inves-
Two years ago, the arch- ing it transparent and ac- tigations.
diocese announced it was countable, it will be thanks In her role as an arbitrator,
creating an independently to the efforts of Attorney she ruled in 2014 that for-
administered compen- General Underwood, not mer Baltimore Ravens run-
sation fund for victims of an investigator paid by the ning back Ray Rice could
clergy sex abuse willing to cardinal," Doyle said. "Al- play football again after
forego lawsuits. It has paid though we don't doubt Ms. concluding that NFL Com-
out about $60 million so far. Jones' sincerity, we've yet missioner Roger Goodell
The system has been cop- to see one of these internal had made an "abuse of
ied in other dioceses. Ear- reviews produce significant discretion" in suspending
lier this week, four men systemic change or even Rice indefinitely after video
reached a $27.5 million damaging revelations." emerged of him beating his
settlement with the neigh- Tim Lennon, president of wife into unconsciousness
boring diocese of Brooklyn Survivors Network of those in an elevator.q