I mostly agree with this. Although you can learn quite a bit about a man’s behavior simply living communally in close quarters.I’m not seeing how a man’s behavior with other adult men is going to throw up a red flag if he prefers young boys, or young girls.
Yeah, this is a problem. In a parish or seminary environment, things can (and are) tracked because of WiFi and stuff. On one’s personal internet on personal time, and that is not the case.It would be more helpful if there was a way to check their computer activity. It seems like a lot of priests nowadays (two from the diocese I’m in now and this guy from the other diocese, just in the last several years) make online accounts under fake identities or even in one case under a real identity, and use those for immoral purposes. Two of the three priests I mention were posing as women and catfishing young people to send nude pictures. In one case the priest was posing as a teenage lesbian to catfish young girls and in the most recent case I mention he was posing as a woman to catfish boys from his parish.
Did he have an older minister in the same parish as supervisor ? We did, and had weekly evaluations with them. Then there were evaluations every six months with officials from the Reformed synod, and regular questioning of the parishioners to check if nothing felt off from their perspective.Well, they did catch the guy within about 18 months of his being in a parish.
When you look at US ordinations as a whole over the past couple of decades, this is a rarity. I’m sorry to hear that it happened in your former diocese.I’d like to be able to say that.
But how many times can we keep saying that?
Especially when we are only ordaining maybe 2 to 10 guys per diocese most years. This latest guy was one of a class of only 8 guys getting ordained. You’d think with so few guys they could screen better.
That would depend particularly on the diocese and it’s bishop. I’ve known of bishops who are highly selective and even reject more applicants than they accept (despite a vocation shortage within his diocese). I have also known of dioceses/bishops that are probably too lax. In the long run though, it’s never a good idea to accept a questionable candidate, even if it makes the numbers look a little better in the short term.With vocation numbers so small, I would hope that they’re not bending any rules just to get another head count.
Generally, seminary formators view the psych eval with a balanced approach. If the results show clear indications of severe psychological disorder that would affect his ministry, a man is not getting into seminary, and more than likely never will.I wonder how many true vocations have been denied due to relying on psychological testing, which is a very changing field (just because a particular theory of mental well-being doesn’t show sometime to be “psychologically fit” doesn’t mean they a) can’t get better through Grace b) aren’t meant to be a priest).
It’s normal to require a family member to write a recommendation letter (in the USA). Former girlfriends… never heard of it, but seems a bit much, considering it might have ended on a bad note, or they might be hard to get a reply from, and maybe other problems.I’d go even farther and say that perhaps former girlfriends and family members should be interviewed as part of the process.
When I applied, I had to get references for my application. It was pretty extensive. I needed something like a dozen or more references. I put down my pastor, other priests, deacons, former employers, and a couple of friends. This gives the seminary a good idea of who you are as a person from a number of different angles. We were asked not to use family as references.I’d go even farther and say that perhaps former girlfriends and family members should be interviewed as part of the process.
If they’re found guilty. False accusations are always a possibility, and I’d rather not see someone get dragged through the mud until proven guilty.SEVERE Punishment for those men who are caught the FIRST time they are caught–no “second chances”. The perpetrator is turned over to the police in person by his Bishop and a committee of other priests and bishops, and it is done IN FULL PUBLIC VIEW with media present! Nothing hidden.
Seems a little much to me, but I get the point.
- Heck, I would even consider posting the message on the walls of the narthex in large print, since most folks don’t read their bulletins.
Good advice, regardless of the circumstances.Parents should take the responsibility to educate their children in an age-appropriate way about men (and occasionally women) who are attracted to children and teens, and should warn them to RUN!!! as fast as they can if ANYONE suggests that they do something that they feel uncomfortable with, and TELL their parents or grandparents about it RIGHT AWAY–don’t wait for years to go by.
This is pretty much already the policy, as per child protection training.ALL activities in the parish involving adults and children (youth group, VBS, Religious Ed, camps, workshops, movie nights, etc.) should be staffed with several adults, preferably parents of some of the children in the group, and NO adult should ever be allowed to be with a child alone (e.g., taking them to the bathroom). If an adult finds themselves alone with a child (e.g., waiting for the parents to pick the child up), the adult should immediately take the child OUTSIDE no matter what the weather and stand in a place where they are in clear view of others, e.g., facing the street and houses. The adult should also IMMEDIATELY call another adult, preferably someone on the parish staff, and tell them to please stay on the phone with them until the child’s ride arrives so that they can vouch that the adult is behaving in an acceptable and safe way around the child, and if possible, please COME immediately to the site and join the adult and child for the protection of the ADULT volunteer.
I can certainly understand this.Any parent who fails to pick up their child on time from a parish activity should be firmly admonished that this must not happen again, and if it does, their child will not be allowed to attend parish activities. I know this sounds harsh, but I am friends with two adults, one a school teacher, and one a skating coach, whose lives were utterly ruined by a child reporting abuse (which did not happen) and there were no adults around to witness on behalf of the accused adult. The ruined life of a sexually-abused child is horrible, but so is the ruined life of a falsely-accused adult.