Ukrainian Eparchy of
Stamford, Connecticut
The Ukrainian Eparchy of Stamford (“the Eparchy”), which was established in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1956, encompasses the states of Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. It consists of 52 parishes, three missions, and three elementary and secondary schools and serves a population of about 16,500 registered Catholics with 62 diocesan priests and nine deacons. The Most Reverend Basil H. Losten, installed as bishop in 1977, leads the Eparchy. A compliance audit of the Eparchy was conducted during the period of June 23-25, 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 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 became effective on June 23, 2003, and provides for an outreach program designed to provide immediate pastoral care to victims/survivors and their families. This policy had not yet been disseminated to all eparchial personnel, and a Recommendation was written requesting that this dissemination be accomplished as soon as possible. No incidents of sexual abuse have been reported to the Eparchy since its inception; however, the bishop has agreed to meet with any victims/survivors in the future. The Eparchy has a victim assistance coordinator, Wawa Baczysnkyj, a licensed social worker, who had recently accepted a Fulbright scholarship. A Recommendation was written suggesting that an appropriate replacement be identified and designated as soon as possible. A lay review board, established in 2002, consists of one priest and seven respected members of the community, including a licensed social worker and a doctor. The procedures for making a complaint of abuse are readily available in printed form but had not been distributed. A Recommendation was written suggesting that the procedures for handling allegations be distributed in the Eparchy’s monthly newspaper. 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 had been reported to the Eparchy since its inception. Its policy, however, provides for immediate reporting of allegations to the appropriate authorities. The Eparchy does 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. The Eparchy has established a clear and well-publicized code of conduct for priests and deacons. A Commendation was written for the Eparchy’s requirement that all clergy, employees, and volunteers read and certify that they have read this code. The Eparchy 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 Eparchy 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 Eparchy has developed a series of safe environment seminars for presentation to adults having regular contact with children and to the children of all age groups and is implementing a training schedule. Two of the videos used in the program were reviewed and were found to be superb, and their selection was the subject of a Commendation. As mentioned above, the Eparchy 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 Eparchy has completed background investigations on all members of the clergy and all eparchial personnel who have regular contact with minors. The Eparchy 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 has not met with major superiors of orders having a presence in the Eparchy to coordinate their respective roles regarding issues of allegations of sexual abuse made against a cleric member of a religious institute; however, the bishop has expressed a willingness to do so. 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 has established screening and evaluative techniques in the selection of candidates for ordination and ongoing formation programs for priests.

Compliance with the Provisions of the Charter

At the conclusion of this audit, the Ukrainian Eparchy of Stamford was issued three Recommendations and two Commendations.

RECOMMENDATION 1—That the sexual abuse prevention policy, written and approved, be disseminated to all parishes as soon as possible.

RECOMMENDATION 2—That the policy/procedure for handling alleged sexual abuse of minors be printed in the Eparchy’s monthly newspaper periodically.

RECOMMENDATION 3—That a replacement for the victim assistance coordinator be identified and designated soon.

COMMENDATION 1—For the efforts made to select appropriate materials and implement the safe environment program.

COMMENDATION 2—For the establishment of a system to provide a code of conduct for all volunteers, including associated record-keeping systems.

As of December 1, 2003, all Recommendations had been addressed. The Eparchy of Stamford 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