PISCATAWAY — Nine days before former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the first bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen, was initially scheduled to appear in a Massachusetts courtroom to plea to the three counts of sexual assault leveled against him as the result of his alleged crimes dating back to the 1970s, Bishop James F. Checchio received a letter in the mail from StoneBridge Business Partners.
The letter, a formal follow-up to the extensive audit conducted in July by the independent auditing firm, stated that the Diocese of Metuchen “has been found compliant with all audited Articles within the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People for the audit period of July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2021.”
“It was welcomed news to hear from the independent auditing firm that our diocese was found to be compliant with the Charter,” said Bishop James F. Checchio. “The staff in our diocesan offices and those who work or volunteer in our parishes and schools work hard to adhere to these procedures to ensure the safety of children and young people. As evidenced by the sharp decline in the number of cases of abuse in our diocese over the years, and now as indicated by the results of this independent audit, our diocese is on the right path forward, ensuring that the mistakes of the past cannot be repeated.”
Though the findings of the audit are reassuring, the need for such an audit is a shameful reminder of the past failures by some of the Church’s leaders, the bishop said referring to McCarrick, 91, who made his first court appearance on Sept. 3.
In his first appearance before a judge for the Dedham District Court, McCarrick moved slowly, aided by a walker. He was not remanded into custody but was ordered to post $5,000 bail and have no contact with the alleged victim or children.
McCarrick is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Oct. 28. “We look forward to the court’s findings,” said Bishop Checchio. “We pray that truth and justice prevail, even while entrusting ourselves to the mercy of God.”
Once a former high-ranking prelate in the U.S. Catholic Church, McCarrick was found to be credibly accused of abusing a 16-year-old altar server in New York in 1971. In 2019, less than a year after the Archdiocese of New York found the allegations to be “credible and substantiated,” he was dismissed by the Vatican from the clerical state following an investigation of accusations that he had abused multiple children and seminarians early on in his priestly ministry.
He was criminally charged, for the first time, on July 29 with assault of a minor, which is alleged to have first taken place at a wedding reception in 1974 and continued over the years in different states. While the alleged incidents took place nearly 50 years ago, the state of Massachusetts allows for a pause of the statute of limitations when the offender is out of the state.
“When it was announced that McCarrick would be criminally charged in Massachusetts, and then again when he was arraigned on Sept. 3, my mind immediately turned to the survivors of abuse,” said Bishop Checchio. “I pray each day for their healing, that God may grant them strength and comfort.
“Though our attention often turns to the offenders in cases of abuse, our efforts must be focused on the survivors,” he continued. “They are the ones we must continue to advocate for, through our work, through our prayers, through our outreach, and through our procedures, like those outlined in the Charter, that help to prevent abuse from occurring.”
To help ensure adherence to the Charter and proper implementation of child and youth protection procedures, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops contracted StoneBridge Business Partners of Rochester, N.Y., to conduct independent audits of dioceses in the United States. The July audit of the Diocese of Metuchen was part of the regularly scheduled audit cycle.
Documentation for the audit was gathered months in advance. Weeks before the audit was set to take place, a binder containing all relevant documentation was mailed to the auditing firm, which was set to conduct an on-site audit of the diocese this year but, due to ongoing pandemic concerns, instead conducted the audit virtually.
“It was an all-consuming process,” said Doranne Rossiter, director, diocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection, who oversaw the facilitation of the audit. “The success of an audit depends, to a great extent, on the full access to records and the cooperation of officials on all levels, which in this case included the bishop, diocesan officials, and local parish and Catholic school leaders.”
Having previously served in the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office for 33 years, lastly in the position of Deputy Chief of Investigations, where she was in charge of the Homicide, Narcotics and Special Victims units and had a number of other responsibilities, Rossiter is no stranger to extensive investigations and policy compliance.
“Even though we audit our parishes and Catholic schools in the diocese for compliance with the policies in place to protect children and comply with the data collection audit conducted by StoneBridge in the intervening years, this offers us a complete picture of the prevention, training and healing happening here in our diocese,” Rossiter said of the three-year lookback period.
As part of the audit, meetings with key personnel spanned three days and included interviews with Bishop James F. Checchio, Father Timothy A. Christy, vicar general; Anthony P. Kearns III, Esq., chancellor; Msgr. John N. Fell, director, diocesan Office of Priest Personnel; Msgr. William Benwell, episcopal vicar for canonical affairs and pastor of St. Mary-Stony Hill Parish in Watchung; Barbara Stevens, assistant superintendent of schools; members of the diocesan review board; and Paule Galette, LCSW, victim assistance coordinator, among several others.
Three years’ worth of documentation, processes and procedures were reviewed and measured against the minimum requirements set forth in the Charter. The audit included a review of documentation from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2021, one of the most scrutinized periods in modern U.S. Church history.
Within the three-year period examined as part of the audit, the diocese: underwent an independent re-examination of its files and archives; established an independent reporting structure, under the direction of Bishop Checchio; embraced Vos estis lux mundi and the subsequent Catholic Bishop Abuse Reporting service that resulted; released the names of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor; hired former county prosecutor Anthony P. Kearns III, Esq., to serve as its chancellor, and brought Rossiter on board several months later; participated in an Independent Victim Compensation Program; issued its own report in November 2020, coinciding with the release of the “Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick;” and, as confirmed by the audit, continued to adhere to the guidelines set forth in the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.
“For moe than 20 years, especially here in the Diocese of Metuchen, the Church has taken steps to prevent abuse,” said Rossiter. “These past three years, which we carefully re-examined in preparing for the audit, have been an unfortunate reminder of the terrible mistakes made by individuals in the past, but a hopeful reminder of all that has been done to prevent abuse from happening now and in the future.”
Smith is director, diocesan Office of Communications.
Anyone who has been harmed in any way, by any member of clergy, employee or volunteer of the Catholic Church, is encouraged to notify law enforcement by calling 1-877 NJ ABUSE and is also urged to notify Rossiter by calling (908) 930-4558.