Byzantine Eparchy of
Passaic, New Jersey
The Eparchy of Passaic (“the Eparchy”), which was established in 1963, encompasses the entire East Coast of the United States. The Eparchy consists of 90 parishes and one school, has 81 eparchial priests and 16 deacons, and serves a population of 24,265 registered Catholics. The Most Reverend Andrew Pataki, who was installed as bishop in 1996, leads the Eparchy. A compliance audit of the Eparchy was conducted during the period of September 29–October 3, 2003.

The information set forth below represents conditions as they were found to exist during the week of the audit. Information regarding necessary corrective actions taken by the Eparchy subsequent to the audit will be found in the last paragraph.

Findings

To Promote Healing and Reconciliation
The Eparchy has a written policy that provides for outreach to victims/survivors, but no process or mechanism has been put in place to carry out the policy. While no allegations of abuse have been reported to the Eparchy since June 2002, the bishop, or his designee, has met or offered to meet with victims/survivors of abuse reported in the past. The Eparchy does not have a victim assistance coordinator and the procedures for making a complaint of abuse are not readily available in printed form. An Instruction was issued for the Eparchy to appoint a victim assistance coordinator and to publish procedures for filing a complaint of abuse. Due to the large geographic territory covered by the Eparchy, four review boards were established in 2003. Each board consists of five members, including one priest and four respected members of the lay community. A Recommendation was issued for the Eparchy to create a document setting forth protocols, procedures, and responsibilities for the four review boards. There have been no confidentiality agreements entered into by the Eparchy since June 2002.

To Guarantee Effective Response to Allegations of Abuse of a Minor
Due to the size of the territory covered by the Eparchy and the small number of abuse cases reported to the Eparchy, there has been little contact with civil authorities. A written agreement has been entered into with New Jersey authorities, ensuring that an open dialogue will take place in the event allegations of sexual abuse are received, but no such interaction has taken place with the other nine states in the Eparchy. A Recommendation was made for the Eparchy to create an internal document identifying points of contact and procedures for reporting any future allegations of sexual abuse to civil authorities in a timely manner. The Eparchy has a procedure in place to advise victims/survivors of their right to report allegations of abuse by a member of the clergy to civil authorities. The Eparchy has not established a code of conduct for priests and deacons. An Instruction was issued for the Eparchy to establish and publicize clear standards of ministerial behavior and appropriate boundaries for clergy and any other church personnel in positions of trust who have regular contact with children. While the Eparchy included a communications policy in its 1993 sexual abuse policy, this policy was superceded by a 2003 restatement of the policy that makes no mention of a commitment to openness in dealing with matters of sexual abuse of minors. A Recommendation was made for the Eparchy to review the 2003 policy with a view towards including a communications policy and other applicable elements of the Charter.

To Ensure Accountability of Procedures
Due to a misrouting of survey instruments to the retired former bishop, the Eparchy has not participated in the research study regarding the “nature and scope” of the problem of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. The instruments were received by the Eparchy immediately before the audit. A Recommendation was made for the Eparchy to comply promptly with the requirements of the survey.

To Protect the Faithful in the Future
The Eparchy has not established a safe environment program. An Instruction was issued for the Eparchy to promptly establish such a program. As noted above, the Eparchy has not publicized standards of conduct for clergy and other church personnel who have regular contact with children. An Instruction was issued for the Eparchy to do so promptly. The Eparchy is employing a self-reporting method for conducting background evaluations for non-clerical personnel who have regular contact with minors. A Recommendation was made for the Eparchy to appropriately modify its evaluation and background investigation procedures for clergy, employees, and volunteers, including use of law enforcement resources. The Eparchy has not transferred any priest or deacon who has had a credible allegation of sexual abuse lodged against him to another eparchy for ministerial assignment, or for purposes of residence. The bishop maintains close contact with Latin Rite bishops in the Eparchy territory and, through them, ensures coordination with major superiors regarding issues of allegations of sexual abuse made against a cleric member of a religious institute. The Eparchy has not had an opportunity to cooperate with other churches, religious bodies, and institutions of learning in conducting research in the area of sexual abuse of minors. The Eparchy has established screening and evaluative techniques in the selection of candidates for ordination and formation programs for priests.

Compliance with the Provisions of the Charter

At the conclusion of this audit, the Eparchy of Passaic was issued three Instructions and five Recommendations.

INSTRUCTION 1—The Eparchy will appoint an individual to serve as victim assistance coordinator and publish procedures for use of those wishing to report incidents of sexual abuse of minors.

INSTRUCTION 2—The Eparchy will establish and publicize standards of ministerial behavior and appropriate boundaries for clergy and any other church personnel in positions of trust who have regular contact with children and young people.

INSTRUCTION 3—The Eparchy will establish a comprehensive safe environment program in accordance with the requirements of the Charter.

RECOMMENDATION 1—That the Eparchy review its existing sexual abuse policy documents with a view towards consolidating them into a single statement of policy and procedures. This document should be designed for wide dissemination and be inclusive of all applicable elements of the Charter.

RECOMMENDATION 2—That the Eparchy create a document setting forth the bishop’s expectations regarding protocols, responsibilities, and procedures for the four review boards, in order to ensure relevance, consistency, and uniformity of effort and product.

RECOMMENDATION 3—That the Eparchy consider creation of an internal document setting forth points of contact for civil jurisdictions within the eparchial territory, in order to facilitate timely reporting of allegations received in the future.

RECOMMENDATION 4—That the Eparchy modify its evaluation and background investigation procedures for clergy, employees, and volunteers, consistent with the terms of the Charter.

RECOMMENDATION 5—That the Eparchy comply promptly with the requirements of the research project to determine the “nature and scope” of the sexual abuse problem in the Catholic Church in the United States.

As of December 1, 2003, only Recommendation 5 had been fully addressed. The Eparchy is making progress on addressing and implementing a safe environment program, establishing review boards, and identifying a code of conduct for its personnel. The Eparchy of Passaic is compliant with the Charter as measured by the process described in Chapter 2 in Section I, with the exception of Articles 2, 6, 12, and 13.


The compliance audit measured activity that has occurred since the adoption of the Charter in June 2002 with the exception of certain mandated actions found in Articles 5 and 14. Actions taken by the diocese/eparchy prior to June 2002 to address allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests and deacons are not included in this summary report.




__________________________________

Office of Child and Youth Protection
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194
(202) 541-5413 | FAX: (202) 541-5410
Email: ocyp@usccb.org