Eparchy of
St. Thomas the Apostle
The Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle (“the Eparchy”), which was established in 1982, encompasses the eastern half of the United States, consists of seven parishes, has eight eparchial priests, and serves a population of 70,000 registered Catholics. The Most Reverend Ibrahim Ibrahim, who was installed as bishop in 1982, leads the Eparchy. A compliance audit of the Eparchy was conducted on October 27, 2003.

The information set forth below represents conditions as they were found during 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 was found not to have established an outreach program. The bishop has not met with any victims/survivors of sexual abuse, since there have been no reported cases of such abuse by members of the clergy in the Eparchy. The Eparchy has appointed a victim assistance coordinator. The Eparchy does not have an eparchial review board. There are no established and publicized procedures for making a complaint of abuse. 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
The Eparchy does not have 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. The Eparchy has not established a communications policy that reflects a commitment to openness and transparency on issues regarding the sexual abuse of children.

To Ensure Accountability of Procedures
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.

To Protect the Faithful in the Future
The Eparchy has not established a safe environment program. The Eparchy has not established standards of conduct for priests and deacons or for eparchial employees, volunteers, and any other church personnel in positions of trust who have regular contact with children and young people. The Eparchy is not conducting background evaluations for eparchial and parish personnel who have regular contact with minors. 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 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.

Compliance with the Provisions of the Charter

At the conclusion of this audit, it was determined that the Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle was significantly out of compliance with the Charter and that assistance would be required to achieve compliance. In this regard, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit offered to allow the Eparchy to adopt the archdiocesan sexual abuse prevention policy, participate in its safe environment program and background evaluation process, and use the archdiocesan review board as needed. The Archdiocese of Detroit further offered to provide any other assistance necessary for achievement of compliance with the Charter. In addition, the Eparchy was issued nine Instructions.

INSTRUCTION 1—The Eparchy will develop an outreach program for victims/survivors of sexual abuse and their families.

INSTRUCTION 2—The Eparchy will establish a policy to promptly respond to allegations of sexual abuse of a minor.

INSTRUCTION 3—The Eparchy will establish a procedure to advise victims/survivors of their right to make a report to public authorities.

INSTRUCTION 4—The Eparchy will establish a process to address allegations of sexual abuse of a minor by a priest or a deacon.

INSTRUCTION 5—The Eparchy will establish standards of ministerial behavior and appropriate codes of conduct for church personnel who have regular contact with children.

INSTRUCTION 6—The Eparchy will establish a communications policy committed to transparency and openness.

INSTRUCTION 7—The Eparchy will participate in the research study on the “nature and scope” of the problem of sexual abuse by members of the Catholic clergy.

INSTRUCTION 8—The Eparchy will establish a safe environment program as described in the Charter.

INSTRUCTION 9—The Eparchy will initiate and conduct background investigations of all eparchial personnel who have regular contact with children and young people.

As of December 1, 2003, only Instruction 7 had been addresssed. The Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle is compliant with some of the Articles of the Charter as measured by the process described in Chapter 2 in Section I, with the exception of Articles 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 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.




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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