Archdiocese of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia (“the Archdiocese”), established in 1875, encompasses Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania and serves a Catholic community of 1,488,000 parishioners in 279 parishes. There are 743 archdiocesan priests and 211 permanent deacons. The Archdiocese has 206 parish elementary schools and 22 high schools. His Eminence, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who led the Archdiocese at the time of the audit, was installed as archbishop in February 1988 and was assisted by five auxiliary bishops. A compliance audit was conducted during the period of September 8-12, 2003.

The following describes conditions evident during the week of the audit. Information on corrective actions taken by the Diocese subsequent to the audit will be found in the last paragraph.

Findings

To Promote Healing and Reconciliation
The Archdiocese has established policy of outreach responding to allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy. The cardinal, or his designee, had met, or offered to meet with, victims/survivors or their family, since June 2002. The Archdiocese has a qualified victim assistance coordinator and an archdiocesan review board comprising diverse, highly qualified experts who provide confidential counsel to the cardinal. A former federal investigator assists the board in its investigations. Procedures for reporting allegations of sexual abuse are readily available and publicized. It was recommended that the Archdiocese work more closely with the review board to expedite the resolution of the remaining procedural issues in order to satisfy its commitment to bring prompt and just closure to outstanding allegations. No confidentiality agreements have been entered into by the diocese since June 2002.

To Guarantee Effective Response to Allegations of Abuse of a Minor
The Archdiocese has reported every allegation of abuse of a minor by clergy to public authorities, regardless of when the abuse occurred. Victims/survivors are advised of the right to report allegations of abuse to civil authorities. Standards for ministerial behavior and appropriate boundaries have been adopted, clearly articulated, and well publicized for clergy and other church personnel who have regular contact with children. The Archdiocese has a communications policy reflecting the cardinal’s pledge to be open and transparent on issues regarding the sexual abuse of children. There is a program to deal with parishes directly affected by clergy misconduct.

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 has created a safe environments office to implement safe environment training for clergy, educators, parents, youth, and others regarding child-centered safety. Approximately 50 percent of the elementary-school children have received training, and the remaining schools will receive training by the end of the current school year. The Archdiocese used the VIRTUS program to provide a standardized teaching platform and has also been assisted by Parents Anonymous of Philadelphia. A Recommendation suggested that the Archdiocese offer relevant training and produce informative documents in the various languages of parishioners. The Archdiocese has implemented aggressive procedures to screen all those within the Archdiocese who have regular contact with children and young people by utilizing the services of the Pennsylvania State Police, the state Department of Public Welfare, and the FBI. Screening and evaluation protocols are used to consider the fitness of candidates for ordination. The Archdiocese has not transferred any priests who have had credible allegations of abuse lodged against them for ministry or residence since June 2002. It was recommended that the Archdiocese determine the residence of offenders who retain their priestly status and to implement a system to periodically ensure they are conforming to the requirements of the Charter. There is systematic, ongoing formation of priests.

Compliance with the Provisions of the Charter

At the conclusion of this audit, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was issued three Recommendations.

RECOMMENDATION 1—That the Archdiocese determine the residence of offenders who have been removed from ministry and implement a system to periodically ensure that they are conforming to the provisions of the Charter.

RECOMMENDATION 2—That the Archdiocese offer relevant training and informative documents in the various languages of parishioners.

RECOMMENDATION 3—That the Archdiocese work with the review board to expedite resolution of remaining procedural issues to satisfy its commitment to bring prompt and just closure to outstanding allegations.

As of December 1, 2003, all three Recommendations had been addressed. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is 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