June 13, 2024 - NRB Plenary Address by Suzanne Healy

June 13, 2024 - NRB Plenary Address by Suzanne Healy

2024 NRB Address

June 13, 2024

Good morning, your Eminences, your Excellencies, distinguished visitors, and guests. My name is Suzanne Healy. I am the outgoing Chair for the National Review Board.

Each one of us here today, as well as the people in our parishes, schools and other entities are called by God to fulfill the mission of the Church to heal and protect children and young people from sexual abuse by clergy, employees, and volunteers in our church.   It is a noble, faith-filled mission. Your commitment to healing and protection has become an intrinsic ministry in our Church. It is no longer responding to a crisis but rather it has become and continues to be engrained in the fabric of our everyday Church culture.

We have much to be proud of. As a result of the commitment you and your brother bishops made in 2002 with the adoption of the Dallas Charter, we are creating a culture of safety far beyond what was envisioned nearly 25 years ago. 

Results from the 2023 Stonebridge annual audit again show the significant decline in the number of cases being reported from years ago. In 2022 the number of historical cases was 2,704 and this year it was 1,308.  The number of new allegations involving current minors abused by clergy this audit year is 17. Certainly, one is too many.  For over two decades we have implemented training programs for adults and children. We have systematically implemented background checks for adults. We have instituted robust policies and codes of conduct. We believe these and many other efforts have substantially reduced the potential for abuse today, but we have not yet reached zero.

Why and how did these 17 cases happen this year? Each case can be studied using outside expertise and the principles of High Reliability Organizations. The first principle is preoccupation with failure. Examining these allegations in your dioceses and eparchies can help us identify effective practices in establishing safe environments. Preoccupation with failure can also help to identify the gaps or weaknesses in our policies or in the implementation of policies that allow for such evil events to occur. HRO principles encourage leaders to access and defer to the knowledge and wisdom of subject matter experts. HRO principles examine the near misses and help us prepare for the unexpected. We encourage bishops and dioceses which have not yet taken advantage of the opportunity to be trained in the principles of High Reliability Organizations to contact the Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection to arrange for your training.  For those who have been trained, we encourage you to continue examining your diocesan practices until these principles are well integrated into the everyday culture of all parish and church activities.

Research is a very effective tool in evaluating past practices and informs the future evolution of safeguarding. The National Review Board members support continued research from well-established organizations and learning institutions. Two decades ago, you and your brother bishops commissioned John Jay College of Criminal Justice to conduct two studies, commonly referred to as Nature and Scope and Causes and Context. At the time these were groundbreaking in terms of self-imposed examination of the depth and breadth of abuse in our church. These studies provided a comparison baseline for the many studies that came after and are often referenced even today. Today, NRB members whole-heartedly support a new proposal by John Jay to look at the credible abuse allegations that have been reported since the last study in 2011. It is important to learn, after decades of safeguarding implementation, how did the recent allegations happen? Are these events that we can prevent in the future? What was the context? Is the solution to be found in ecclesial or societal structures? You again have an opportunity to break ground and establish the foundation for the next evolution in safeguarding. With this new study, you can continue to demonstrate your commitment to the promises made, knowing that you are supported by your brethren around the world as together we resolve to establish healthy and holy communities for all. (Click the PDF link to continue reading.)

June 13, 2024 - NRB Plenary Address by Suzanne Healy.pdf