The Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg has addressed clergy sex abuse in ways that should help restore public confidence in the church.
Last week, the diocese settled a dozen claims by men who said they were sexually abused as boys by a former Tampa Bay area priest. Robert Schaeufele, a priest who served the diocese for 27 years, was sentenced to 30 years in prison last year after he pleaded guilty to charges that he sexually abused three boys. Two claimants declined to take the settlement offer and their lawsuits against the diocese are pending.
Bishop Robert N. Lynch is fulfilling his promise to account for and learn from his church's shameful past. He has apologized routinely and publicly. Lynch showed a personal interest in resolving the lawsuits. The church chose not to go after the victims' medical records, as is routine in civil litigation. The church allowed the victims to choose an arbitrator to divide the $1-million settlement. Lynch agreed to form a victims' committee, which will meet with the bishop annually to assess the diocese's progress on reforms established to protect children. The settlement did not contain a confidentiality agreement, leaving the victims free to discuss their experiences with the church.
This approach is a welcome change from the cold, closed way dioceses used to settle abuse claims across the country. Lynch has shown that the church he heads on Florida's west central coast is committed not only to better protecting children, but to being held publicly accountable should another child be molested.
This change in attitude, more than money, is a measure of how far the church has come in the two years since the scandal broke. The bishop is a realist for recognizing that the public is paying attention.
