July 4, 1997
Vatican Probes Priest Ousters
Santa Fe Archdiocese Dismissed 21 on Sexual Abuse Charges
By Paul Logan
Journal Staff Writer
A Vatican investigation is under way to determine if U.S. Catholic dioceses, including the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, acted fairly in dismissing priests accused of sexual abuse.
Catholic officials in Rome and U.S. bishops have disagreed over when and how a priest charged with sexual abuse should be removed from the ministry. The Vatican recently began its probe after a number of American priests protested they were wrongly accused.
Currently, church law allows the removal of a priest through a diocese's administrative process or a more formal judicial procedure that includes appeals. The latter resembles the U.S. criminal justice system.
The Archdiocese of Santa Fe has removed 21 priests from the ministry in recent years because of sexual abuse charges. The archbishop used the administrative process in all but one case, Sister Nancy Kazik, vice chancellor of the archdiocese, said Thursday.
Kazik said the lone judicial case recently was completed and the Vatican ruled in favor of the archdiocese. But she said she couldn't comment further on the case.
"We believe we've done everything fairly and properly," Kazik said.
Of the 21 priests relieved of their duties, 17 are still alive, according to the archdiocese. Kazik said she didn't think any of the New Mexico priests were involved in filing written protests to the Vatican, where the pope resides.
A number of U.S. priests who claim they were wrongly removed from the ministry have filed complaints, according to the Vatican.
In the past 15 years, an estimated 800 of the 50,000 U.S. priests have been accused of molesting children.
Many of the archdiocese priests who were relieved of their duties had been accused of molesting minors. Some cases went back as far as 30 years, Kazik said.
Both former Archbishop Robert Sanchez and current Archbishop Michael Sheehan used administrative procedures in removing priests, she said.
Sanchez was a beloved spiritual leader of the archdiocese's 275,000 Catholics for nearly two decades. He admitted in a deposition made public last year that he kept the lid on sex-abuse charges to prevent a church scandal. But his own sexual relationships with women, also contained in the deposition, eventually forced him to resign.
Monsignor Joseph Pepe, an archdiocese expert on church law, said the administrative process allows a bishop and two consulting priests to weigh the evidence against an accused priest and "to address the situation immediately."
The judicial process is much more involved, using three judges who are priests, and often takes years to resolve a case, Pepe said.
"It's a very, very complicated system," he said. "The judicial system has all kinds of appeals and reviews."
Pepe said the bishop determines which procedure is used.
Kazik said the archdiocese, as well as other dioceses, were asked to submit their sexual misconduct policies and procedures at last month's National Conference of Bishops in Kansas City, Mo. The documents were forwarded to Rome.
The archdiocese hasn't received word from Rome on its policy, she said, adding that Vatican reviews take time.
"We always have been concerned about the seriousness of the matter," Kazik said.
"We have been conscious of (priests') rights and tried to protect them. Also, we have to protect others. If the victims come forward, we have to be conscious of their needs as well. And for that reason, the steps that have been taken were taken."
Mary Ryland, archdiocese communications director, said Sheehan was out of state Thursday and unavailable for comment.
U.S. bishops have said they are glad Rome is addressing the problem of priests molesting minors, but fear the Vatican will try to tie their hands in responding to sexual abuse complaints.
Nicholas Cafardi, dean of Duquesne University Law School, said the nation's dioceses have struggled to address the problem with sensitivity.
"That has only happened after an awful lot of real pain," he said. "I would hope that Rome isn't convinced that we need to revisit that."
The archdiocese has taken a similar stance.
"I don't want to sound like a broken record on this, but we're concerned about bringing about healing and reconciliation," Kazik said. "This has been painful for everybody, even people in the pew. The whole church has suffered from this."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
