Denver Catholic

3 DENVER CATHOLIC | OCTOBER 26-NOVEMBER 8, 2019 reassert my commitment to them further: • Allegations of sexual abuse of a minor will continue to always be properly reported to local authorities. • I will continue to immediately remove a member of the clergy or any other church worker from active ministry during an investigation into an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor. • I will continue to take very seriously all reported incidents of misconduct by members of the clergy or other Church workers, and we will investi- gate even non-criminal misconduct with great diligence. • I will continue to never transfer a member of the clergy who is under investigation. • I will continue to remove from min- istry permanently and without the ability to be transferred to any other Catholic institution, any member of the clergy who is found to have had sexual misconduct with a minor. • I will continue to hold us account- able for addressing misconduct whenever we are made aware of it. • I demand and will continue to enforce a strict and diligent screening process for all seminary applicants. Sexual abuse is a societal problem and there is no single answer or single action to eliminate all sexual abuse, but we will not rest in our e… orts to protect children. We will use our resources and community partner- ships to be a leader in this area, and we will strive to improve. For a full list of my promises to you, and for addi- tional information about the report, please visit archden.org/promise. Please join me in praying for all survivors, their families, and our com- munities, and for our ongoing e… orts to bring healing and reconciliation to the survivors of sexual abuse. In Christ, Most Reverend Samuel J. Aquila, S.T.L. Archbishop of Denver Independent Review and Report FAQ WHAT WAS THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW? Former U.S. Attorney Robert Troyer was given access to 70 years of dioce- san fi les concerning the sexual abuse of minors by diocesan priests—including the so-called "secret archive" fi les— and the opportunity to interview sur- vivors, priests, and other witnesses. His report included an analysis of the diocese's policies related to prevent- ing and responding to sexual abuse of minors; the dioceses' compliance with Colorado law requiring the mandatory reporting to law enforcement of abuse allegations; and a list of all diocesan priests that are the subject of one or more substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor since 1950. WHY DID THE ARCHDIOCESE AGREE TO THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW? There were four goals: (1) To pub- licly acknowledge this history of sexual abuse, and in doing so provide a moment of justice for any survivor and encourage others to come forward; (2) To assure the Attorney General, public and members of the Archdiocese – clergy and laity – that no diocesan priest known to have sexually abused a minor is in active ministry; (3) To identify any needed improvements to our policies and procedures to ensure they are of the highest standard; (4) To allow the thousands of people who are working to make the Archdiocese a safe environ- ment for children to see the progress of their work. WHAT DID THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW FIND FOR THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DENVER? The review identifi es 21 diocesan and one extern priest who were responsible for 127 substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. For some con- text: within the Archdiocese of Denver, the most recent case was in 1998 and » This FAQ is intended to be a brief summary of the Independent Review and its published report specifi c to the Archdiocese of Denver. CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE

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