Ukrainian Eparchy of
St. Nicholas of Chicago, Illinois
The Ukrainian Eparchy of St. Nicholas of Chicago (“the Eparchy”) was established in 1961. It serves 10,000 Ukrainian Catholics in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. The Eparchy consists of 36 parishes, seven missions, and three elementary and secondary schools, 12 deacons, and 20 priests. The Most Reverend Richard S. Seminack, installed as bishop in June 2003, leads the Eparchy. Bishop Michael Wiwchar, the prior bishop, served as the apostolic administrator of the Eparchy until the installation of Bishop Seminack. A compliance audit of the Eparchy was conducted during the period of September 8-12, 2003.

The information presented 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’s prevention policy on sexual abuse of minors was in draft form at the time of the audit; it was being reviewed by the College of Eparchial Consultors and will provide for an outreach program designed to provide immediate pastoral care to victims/survivors and their families. An Instruction was written to require finalization and dissemination of this policy. The Eparchy does not have a victim assistance coordinator but was soliciting candidates for this position. The Eparchy did not have a lay review board at the time of the audit but was in the process of selecting board members from a list of candidates that includes two priests and six lay members. An Instruction was written to require the Eparchy to select a victim assistance coordinator and to select and convene a lay review board. The procedures for making a complaint of abuse are not yet available in printed or electronic form but will be made available when the final policy is approved. The Eparchy has entered into no confidentiality agreements since June 2002.

To Guarantee Effective Response to Allegations of Abuse of a Minor
The Eparchy has had no contact with local civil authorities regarding sexual abuse allegations, because no allegations have been reported to the Eparchy since June 2002. An Instruction was written requiring the Eparchy to establish contact with the authorities in each state where its parishes are operating. The Eparchy did not yet have a procedure for advising victims/survivors of their right to report allegations of sexual abuse by a member of the clergy to civil authorities. This procedure will be included in the policy that is being reviewed for approval. At the time of the audit, the Eparchy did not have a policy in place that describes the procedures for addressing—legally, canonically, or pastorally—clergy who might be accused of allegations of sexual abuse of minors. However, the new policy that is currently in review for approval will contain this information. As described above, an Instruction was written requiring the Eparchy to finalize and disseminate this policy. The Eparchy was found not to have established a clear and well-publicized code of conduct and boundaries for priests, deacons, and other church personnel who have regular contact with children. The eparchial standards will be included in the new policy. An Instruction was written requiring the Eparchy to finalize and disseminate the eparchial standards of behavior and boundaries. The Eparchy does not have a communications policy reflecting the bishop’s pledge to be open and transparent on issues regarding the sexual abuse of children. An Instruction was written requiring the Eparchy to finalize and disseminate the eparchial communications policy.

To Ensure Accountability of Procedures
The Eparchy could not provide documentation that it had participated in the research study regarding the “nature and scope” of the problem of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy, although there have been no allegations to report since the creation of the Eparchy.

To Protect the Faithful in the Future
The Eparchy had not implemented or selected a series of safe environment seminars for presentation to clergy, adults having regular contact with children, or the children themselves. An Instruction was written for the Eparchy to institute a program of safe environment training of all clergy, parents, educators, and employees/volunteers. As mentioned above, the Eparchy had not 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 Eparchy had not developed a program or procedures for completing background investigations on all members of the clergy and for all diocesan and parish personnel who have regular contact with minors. An Instruction was written requiring the Eparchy to institute background checks of all personnel and clergy who have contact with children. The Eparchy has not transferred any priests or deacons who have had credible allegations of sexual abuse lodged against them to any other eparchy for ministerial assignment or residence since June 2002. The bishop and the major superiors of clerical institutions having a presence in the Eparchy had not coordinated their respective roles 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 had established screening and evaluative techniques in the selection of candidates for ordination; however, the Eparchy did not have systemic ongoing formation programs. An Instruction was written requiring the Eparchy to establish a priestly formation program.

Compliance with the Provisions of the Charter

At the conclusion of this audit, the Ukrainian Eparchy of St. Nicholas in Chicago, Illinois, was issued nine Instructions.

INSTRUCTION 1—The Eparchy shall finalize and disseminate the Policy and Procedures Concerning Sexual Abuse of Minors by Clergy or Church Personnel.

INSTRUCTION 2—The Eparchy shall finalize and disseminate the above policy, select a victim assistance coordinator, select and convene a lay review board, and publicly announce its procedures/policies.

INSTRUCTION 3—The Eparchy shall establish a point of contact in each jurisdiction (state) where parishes are operated to receive and handle complaints of sexual abuse.

INSTRUCTION 4—The Eparchy shall finalize and disseminate the above policy, including the procedures for dealing with accused clergy.

INSTRUCTION 5—The Eparchy shall finalize and disseminate the eparchial standards of ministerial behavior and appropriate boundaries for clergy and other church personnel who have regular contact with children.

INSTRUCTION 6—The Eparchy shall finalize and disseminate the eparchial communications policy regarding transparency and openness.

INSTRUCTION 7—The Eparchy shall institute safe environment training of all parents, educators, clergy, employees, and volunteers who regularly work with youth.

INSTRUCTION 8—The Eparchy shall institute background checks of all eparchial and parish personnel, including volunteers who have regular contact with children and youth.

INSTRUCTION 9—The Eparchy shall establish a priestly formation program.

As of December 1, 2003, all Instructions, except 7, had been addressed. The Eparchy is compliant with the provisions of the Charter with the exception of Article 12, 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