Archdiocese of
Louisville, Kentucky
The Archdiocese of Louisville (“the Archdiocese”), which was established as a diocese in Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1808 and as an archdiocese in Louisville in 1937, encompasses 24 counties in central Kentucky. It consists of 123 parishes and missions and 61 schools, has 166 diocesan priests, 111 deacons, and serves a population of 196,910 registered Catholics. The Most Reverend Thomas C. Kelly, who was installed as archbishop in 1982, leads the Archdiocese. A compliance audit of the Archdiocese was conducted during the period of October 20-24, 2003.

The information set forth below represents conditions as they were found during the week of the audit.

Findings

To Promote Healing and Reconciliation
The Archdiocese has established an outreach program. The archbishop, or his designee, has met with victims/survivors of abuse in the Archdiocese and has offered to meet with other victims/survivors at the conclusion of pending litigation. The victim assistance coordinators are Dr. Thomas Robbins and Brenda Marshall, who work at the Family Counseling Center. The archdiocesan review board was established in 2002 and consists of eight members, including clergy and respected members of the lay community. The procedures for making a complaint of abuse are readily available in printed form. There have been no confidentiality agreements entered into by the Archdiocese since June 2002, unless requested by the victim/survivor.

To Guarantee Effective Response to Allegations of Abuse of a Minor
The Archdiocese has established effective liaison with local civil authorities, ensuring an open dialogue regarding sexual abuse allegations. The Archdiocese 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 Archdiocese has established a clear and well-publicized code of conduct for priests and deacons. The Archdiocese has a communications policy that reflects the archbishop’s pledge to be open and transparent on issues regarding the sexual abuse of children.

To Ensure Accountability of Procedures
The Archdiocese has 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 Archdiocese implemented a safe environment program consisting of presentations to priests, teachers, parish personnel, and all others having regular contact with children. The Archdiocese has publicized standards of conduct for priests and deacons, as well as diocesan employees, volunteers, and any other church personnel in positions of trust who have regular contact with children and young people. The Archdiocese is conducting background investigations for all diocesan and parish personnel who have regular contact with minors. The Archdiocese has not transferred any priest or deacon who has had a credible allegation of sexual abuse lodged against him to another ministerial assignment in another diocese. In the three instances of priests who have transferred to other dioceses for residency purposes, the archbishop has sent letters to the bishops of those dioceses, confidentially providing all information relating to allegations of sexual abuse of a child by the priests. The archbishop, or his delegate, and major superiors have coordinated their respective roles regarding issues of allegations of sexual abuse made against a clerical member of a religious institute, although no religious institutes are located within the Archdiocese. The Archdiocese 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 Archdiocese has established screening and evaluative techniques in the selection of candidates for ordination and for the ongoing formation of priests.

Compliance with the Provisions of the Charter

At the conclusion of this audit, the Archdiocese of Louisville was found to be compliant with the provisions of the Charter as measured by the process described in Chapter 2 in Section I.


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