In the past two years in the United States, we Catholics have been saddened and shocked at reports of abuse of children by clergy. A flood of emotions has swept over us — ranging from outrage to heartbreak, from disbelief to disgust. We have seen victims of sexual abuse come forward with heart-wrenching stories — horror stories which many have held in their hearts for many, many years.

Unfortunately, our Diocese of Rockford has not been entirely exempt from instances of abuse of children by clergy. The diligence of my predecessors over the years has assured us that our Diocese is not among the notorious places we have come to know, but surely even one case is one too many, and over the years we have been visited by more cases than that.

When I was ordained and appointed your bishop almost 10 years ago, I was pleased to be reminded that the Diocese had a policy for addressing the sexual abuse of minors dating back to 1987. In that same year an Intervention Committee was formed to address complaints and assure that our policies were kept up-to-date and effective in protecting the welfare of children and young people.

In 1994, shortly after I was ordained your bishop, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops had occasion to consider efforts to address the problem of clergy sexual abuse at our semiannual meeting in Washington, D.C. As soon as I returned, I asked Msgr. David Kagan, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia, to review our policies in light of the bishops’ discussion. His conscientious study resulted in a broad updating of our own policy that took effect in 1995.

Sadly, I must say, not all dioceses and archdioceses showed the same initiative that my predecessors took here before I became your bishop, or that Msgr. Kagan and our Intervention Committee exhibited in the years hence. As a result, since the New Millennium began, we have paid a dear and painful price for the apathy and poor judgment exercised in other places.

In June 2002 the nation’s bishops met in Dallas, Texas, to consider what more we could do to respond to the scandal of sexual abuse and lax leadership in the Church in the United States. At that meeting we took the unprecedented steps of adopting the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and Essential Norms related to the implementation of the Charter.

Within a short time I found myself in Rome with a handful of members of the American hierarchy meeting with Vatican officials to assure that our Charter and Norms conformed to provisions in Universal Church law. About the same time I agreed to serve on the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse, hoping that the position would afford me a sufficiently broad and informed perspective to assure that what we are doing to protect children and young people in this Diocese meets or exceeds the efforts of the Church anywhere in the United States — and beyond our national borders, for that matter.

I must say that I am persuaded that the efforts extended to protect children in this Diocese measure up to and, in many ways, exceed the efforts of every diocese and archdiocese in the nation. Much of the credit for that, as I mentioned earlier, must go to my predecessors and to diocesan officials who faithfully carried the burden while I was yet away in Rome laboring on the Roman Rota.

However, after we bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in June 2002, our own policies and procedures needed to be updated to conform to the provisions of that document. Perhaps the most significant change required that we significantly expand our Intervention Committee. I am pleased to report that this change was accomplished in a matter of a few short months. At the same time, we added an investigator with impressive professional credentials, the details of which you will find in the accompanying report.

Today, the Intervention Committee consists of three priests, two women religious, and 11 respected members of communities all across northern Illinois — including two sexual abuse counselors, two retired judges, a social worker and a nurse. We also have appointed a new investigator who brings to the task credentials as a former special agent in the FBI, an assistant state’s attorney, and a judge who for several years presided over cases of abuse of children in family court.

As Bishop of the Rockford Diocese, I am your shepherd and spiritual father, and I take seriously this responsibility accorded me by the Holy Father. My heart aches and my prayers rise to heaven for anyone who has ever been abused by anyone. Any abuse that has ever happened at the hands of someone in the priesthood or religious life is a terrible crime and an unspeakable sin, and it truly breaks my heart. It is tragic that any priest trusted by people to act in the person of Christ has failed in that trust.

I am especially sorrowful when the abuser is someone affiliated with the Diocese of Rockford — be they priest, deacon, religious, lay minister or volunteer. We reach out to each and every victim in sorrow for the sins of our brethren. We fervently pray and hope that God will help you heal. I hope, too, that you are encouraged by our firm resolve to keep this pestilence from ever occurring again.

We are committed, with renewed vigilance and intensity, to keeping our churches, schools and other facilities safe places for children. In the Gospel of Luke (2:52), we read that "Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man." Our purpose is that the same can be said of every child entrusted to our care, and we are devoted to preventing anything from impeding that process which God wills for every young person in the world today.

The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People calls us to be open and honest with our people about the scope of the scandal in each and every diocese, and so some time ago I asked my Chancery staff to prepare a comprehensive report on the history of sexual abuse of minors by priests in the Rockford Diocese.

That report is reproduced in full on the page that faces this one. It includes information about all allegations we received from 1950 through 2002 — whether they are confirmed, repudiated or remain uncertain. The report also outlines what money we have spent in responding to these cases and where that money has come from.

The period conforms to the scope of a national study undertaken by the nation’s bishops which will be published later this year. The period since then was covered in an audit on which I reported to you a week ago. I was gratified — but not surprised — to report that we passed that audit with some distinction.

In publishing this report over a much longer period of diocesan history, I turn our collective focus to a realty that is very painful, but one which we must face and about which we must be open. So despite the heartbreak for all concerned in the publication of this material, I am grateful to my Chancery staff for compiling it and for the constant vigilance its members have shown in our efforts to prevent abuse.

As we look to more hopeful days ahead, I can assure you that there is no clergyman in ministry in the Diocese of Rockford today who has ever had a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor made against him. The clergymen in this report alleged to have abused children have all died except two, who are no longer in active ministry. Furthermore, I want to assure you that there has never been a single instance where the Diocese maintained a clergyman in parish ministry or permitted him access to young people after credible charges were made against him.

Finally, let me assure you that as far as it is humanly possible, we will continue to do all that we can to ensure that there are no further instances of child abuse by priests, deacons, religious or lay church employees of our Diocese.

In the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus tells us, "Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father" (5:16). Here Jesus calls all of us to do and to be our very best because it is in that way, more than any other, that we bring people to him. As we might say in this day and age, "actions speak louder than words," and it is by our actions that we make believers out of other people.

Those priests and bishops who have failed our trust have shaken the faith of many in our Church and in the saving grace of Christ himself. We must reach out to them. But just as important, we must resolve anew to proclaim our faith by living our faith — boldly, courageously and with integrity — each and every day God gives us on this planet. Today we are doing more than ever before to protect the children entrusted to our care. We must all work together in this regard, and we must never forget to call upon the Lord, who loves us and asks us to accomplish mighty things in his name.

In recent days we have seen how the despicable actions of a relative few have besmirched the reputations of the many priests who live virtuous lives of selfless service. So let me close by asking you to support and pray for your clergy — your deacons, your priests and your bishop. Ask God to guide us, to give us each the strength and energy we need to see the light and, thus, to be a light of faith and hope to all whom we encounter.

Please be assured of my own fervent prayers for you and those whom you love. Together, I am confident that we can be a light to a world badly in need of Christ’s healing love.