Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocese launches inquiry in wake of reported sex abuse by priests in Pennsylvania

The Springfield-Cape Girardeau Catholic diocese has launched an inquiry into the personnel records of all its clerical and lay staff dating back more than five decades in the wake of reported sexual abuse by priests in Pennsylvania.

Leslie Eidson, director of communications for the diocese, said Friday that Bishop Edward Rice called for the review of personnel records Aug. 15. Rice was installed as bishop of the diocese in 2016.

She said the review will look at not only "criminal type" allegations but also ministerial misconduct including any incidents of harassment and inappropriate use of social media.

All personnel records will be reviewed dating back to the founding of the diocese in 1956, according to Eidson.

The diocese, she said, also will cooperate with Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley's statewide investigation into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, which was announced Thursday.

Rice has penned an open letter that will be read during Sunday services at Catholic churches throughout the diocese.

The diocese, which extends across southern Missouri, has 66 parishes, 18 mission churches and four chapels. About 68,000 Catholics live in the diocese, Eidson said

The bishop said the diocese recently placed a pastor on administrative leave for "sexual misconduct over the internet."

Rice said the diocese also "just became aware of a lawsuit that alleges a former employee made inappropriate advances on an adult." He said the diocese is investigating the matter.

In the lengthy letter, Rice wrote that he was "devastated by the recent Pennsylvania grand jury revelations of sexual abuse and the subsequent cover-up from the highest levels of our church."

The grand jury investigation of six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania found church officials had concealed the activity of more than 300 "predator" priests accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 children over several decades.

"The reality is that because of ecclesial misdeeds perpetrated against children and vulnerable adults, many have been physically, sexually or emotionally scarred. And when they cried out for help, bishops ignored those cries," Rice said.

"The very church they believed in, the priests and bishops they trusted with their salvation and as guides in the faith, ended up betraying them and afflicting unspeakable harm. Then they harmed them further through their silence and inaction," he said.

Most of the abuses in Pennsylvania occurred before the early 2000s, which reflects studies showing that Catholic Church reforms in the United States have "drastically reduced the incidence of clergy child abuse," Rice wrote.

But he said there is still work to be done to address the issue.

"I am committed to breaking the dark cloak of mishandling and silence and will take measurable steps toward healing," he wrote.

Eidson said an outside law firm is conducting the investigation and that the findings will be made public. "The bishop wanted to know what are in our files," she said.

Rice said the findings of the inquiry will be reviewed by the diocese's Safe Environment Review Board. The diocese then will issue the findings, the bishop said.

"Be assured that we are actively engaged in creating environments and reporting mechanisms so that both children and adults are safe and free from abuse, trauma, or injury, and may successfully report any instance of misconduct and be confident in our swift action," Rice said.

He said the diocesan code of conduct, which is signed annually by all clergy, employees and volunteers, emphasizes "procedures for reporting abuse."

Rice said he would encourage people to report to the diocese and law enforcement any "claims of sexual abuse or misconduct" involving religious or lay staff.

"We have clear, swift and immediate actions that take place when allegations are made," he wrote.

Eidson said that over the years, there have been reports of abuse of children by nine priests in the diocese. One of those cases involved a priest in New Madrid, Missouri, she said.

The Southeast Missourian reported in 2013 that a priest, who had been dead for decades, had been accused of sexually abusing a child at Immaculate Conception Parish in New Madrid in the mid-1960s.

The complaint against the Rev. Walter G. Craig was considered "credible," Eidson told the Southeast Missourian five years ago.

Rice said in his letter that "as your shepherd, I am sorry for any hurt inflicted upon anyone in the diocese."

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641