Diocese of
St. Petersburg, Florida
The Diocese of St. Petersburg (“the Diocese”), originally established in 1968, encompasses five counties in the area of Tampa Bay, Florida. It consists of 76 parishes and missions, 32 elementary school, three secondary schools, and one college and serves a population of 50,113 registered Catholics with 128 diocesan priests and 100 deacons. The Most Reverend Robert N. Lynch, installed as bishop in 1996, leads the Diocese. A compliance audit of the Diocese was conducted during the period of July 21-25, 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 Diocese subsequent to the audit will be found in the last paragraph.

Findings

To Promote Healing and Reconciliation
The Diocese has had a prevention policy on sexual abuse of minors since 1986, Policies and Procedures for Dealing with Inappropriate Behavior Involving Minors, which was revised in June 2002. This policy provides for an outreach program designed to provide immediate pastoral care to victims/survivors and their families. The Diocese has a victim assistance coordinator, Marti Zeitz, who has a master’s degree in pastoral counseling and extensive experience in social work. A lay review board, consisting of one priest and ten respected members of the community, including a two doctors and a former federal investigator, was originally established in 1996 as the response team and was redefined as the review board in 2002. The procedures for making a complaint of abuse are readily available in printed and electronic form. The Diocese has entered into no confidentiality agreements since June 2002, unless requested by the victim/survivor.

To Guarantee Effective Response to Allegations of Abuse of a Minor
The Diocese has had little contact with local civil authorities regarding sexual abuse allegations, because no allegations have been reported to the Diocese since June 2002. Current policy does not provide for immediate reporting of allegations made by adults to the appropriate authorities, even though the victim is encouraged to report the allegations. A Recommendation was written directing the Diocese to establish a policy of reporting all sexual abuse allegations. The Diocese has established a clear and well-publicized code of conduct for priests and deacons, but codes of conduct for adults having contact with children are being drafted. A Recommendation was written to complete these documents as soon as possible, included as part of the safe environment program Recommendation (see below). The Diocese has a communications policy reflecting the bishop’s pledge to be open and transparent on issues regarding the sexual abuse of children.

To Ensure Accountability of Procedures
The Diocese 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 Diocese is in the process of implementing a series of safe environment seminars, with the assistance of Girls and Boys Town of Omaha, for presentation to clergy and adults having regular contact with children beginning in September 2003. This training was also to include children attending parochial schools and those attending church-sponsored activities. As mentioned above, codes of conduct are also being drafted that will contribute to a safe environment when completed. A Recommendation was issued to expedite the training process. A Commendation was written for initiating several mechanisms, prior to the Charter, that contribute to a safe environment and addressing other issues related to sexual abuse concerns. The Diocese has initiated background investigations on all members of the clergy and all diocesan and parish personnel who have regular contact with minors. The Diocese has not transferred any priests or deacons who have had credible allegations of sexual abuse lodged against them to any other diocese for ministerial assignment or residence since June 2002. The bishop and the major superiors of orders having a presence in the Diocese have coordinated their respective roles regarding issues of allegations of sexual abuse made against a clerical member of a religious institute. The Diocese 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 Diocese 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 Diocese of St. Petersburg was issued two Recommendations and one Commendation.

RECOMMENDATION 1—That the Diocese expedite the safe environment training process and the final preparation and approval of the Code of Conduct for Adults Working with Youth and the Code of Conduct for Children and Youth.

RECOMMENDATION 2—That the Diocese initiate a policy that mandates reporting of all allegations of sexual abuse of minors, whether reported by a minor or an adult.

COMMENDATION—For the Diocese’s foresight and diligence in initiating several mechanisms as early as 1989 that helped to create a safe environment, such as: creating a “response team” to assist the bishop in addressing allegations of sexual abuse; utilizing the fingerprint process and confidential questionnaires as part of the background check, which is re-conducted every five years; and developing a behavioral handbook in 1999 for each priest establishing a zero tolerance for the sexual abuse of minors.

As of December 1, 2003, all Recommendations had been addressed. The Diocese of St. Petersburg 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