As details of sexual abuse cases involving priests emerge around the nation, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is refusing to say whether priests who have faced credible allegations of abuse in the past are assigned to parishes here.
The archdiocese gave assurances recently that no priest who poses a danger to minors is serving in a parish. Those statements were based on its policy of not giving assignments to priests who have been formally diagnosed with sexual disorders that cause them to be attracted to children or youth.
But archdiocesan spokesman Jerry Topczewski declined to comment Friday when asked whether any priests are serving who, while not diagnosed with the disorders, either have a proven history of sexual contact with youth or children or are strongly suspected of having had such contact.
"We have not released and do not plan on releasing the names or the numbers regarding priests in a monitoring program," Topczewski said. "Because the next question would be, 'Where are they, and who are they?' And we don't believe that that's fair to those individuals."
Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland announced plans last week to form a new task force to review the church's handling of sexual abuse issues. It will examine policies and procedures for treating, assigning and monitoring priests who are returned to ministry after being accused of abuse.
Weakland's move comes as allegations of sexual abuse by priests roils the Catholic hierarchy.
In Boston, where the scandal first erupted this year, a priest has been accused of molesting 130 people over a 30-year period. John Geoghan, who was defrocked in 1998, was sentenced to 10 years in prison last month after being convicted in the first of two criminal cases against him.
Court records, which the Boston archdiocese had tried to keep under seal, revealed that church officials had repeatedly given Geoghan new parish assignments despite being aware of allegations against him. About 10,000 pages of records were opened to public view in January after The Boston Globe persuaded a judge to unseal them.
The Boston archdiocese has agreed to pay up to $30 million to settle other claims against Geoghan. Other priests in the archdiocese also have been suspended.
Since the Geoghan story broke, priests in other parts of the country have faced allegations and one bishop has resigned - Anthony J. O'Connell of Palm Beach, Fla. O'Connell admitted that he sexually abused a teenage seminary student 27 years ago.
Topczewski said that in the Milwaukee archdiocese, "We have said that we have not placed priests in a position where they have posed any risks to children or teens, nor are there any known pedophiles in any active ministry at all.
"But that is also what this task force will look at to see if we have been prudent in our decision and, if not, we will make the appropriate changes based on what this task force says."
Topczewski's comments were challenged by a Milwaukee psychotherapist who ran an in-patient treatment program for victims of clergy sexual abuse in the 1990s.
"A no comment?" said Peter Isely. "I take that as a 'Yes, there are men out there now in active ministry who have a history of sexual abuse and/or misconduct with a child or minor.' And I doubt very much that the people in the parishes know of the past history or conduct."
Copies of archdiocesan policies, provided by Topczewski, require that at least one person on site be aware of any reassigned priest's history.
Isely, a member of the board of the Chicago-based Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests, has been critical of monitoring programs in Chicago and Milwaukee.
"There's no evidence that they aren't going to re-offend, and you can't monitor somebody all the time," he said.
Topczewski's statements were consistent with the archdiocesan policy of releasing virtually no statistics on the issue. That includes the number of sexual abuse allegations its Project Benjamin office has investigated, the number of priests who have been removed from parishes because of such allegations, and the number of such priests who cannot be reassigned to normal pastoral duties.
That differs from the Chicago archdiocese, where officials last week said nine priests have been withdrawn from ministry since 1992 because they posed a risk to children.
In Chicago, four priests with a history of sexual misconduct - or who are strongly suspected of it - have been allowed to continue serving as pastors while undergoing treatment and monitoring.
Weakland will appoint the five-member task force to help assure the faithful that church officials are acting accountably, he said in an article in last week's Catholic Herald, the archdiocesan newspaper. Weakland said he was eager to ensure that children and teens are protected.
Archdiocesan policies begin with the assumption against permitting accused priests from serving in a pastoral setting, he added.
"Here in the archdiocese, we were forced to confront the question of pedophilia more than 15 years ago," Weakland said in the statement. "In 1988 we created Project Benjamin, a group composed predominantly of lay people from the community, to help us realistically confront this problem, and especially to deal compassionately with victims.
"They have helped us put into place policies for dealing with allegations and perpetrators. At this moment, we judge it would be prudent to examine how well those policies have functioned and their results."
The task force will include two people from Project Benjamin's board and three members from the community.
Project Benjamin is run on a part-time basis by a licensed psychologist who is assisted as needed by clergy and other professionals. Topczewski, who did not have a list of current board members, said the board meets occasionally but does not get involved in day-to-day investigations of allegations.
In Chicago, Cardinal Francis George is directing his chancellor to review how that archdiocese has handled misconduct cases since 1992, when an independent commission conducted a review. The new review will investigate how the organization monitors offenders still working in the archdiocese. The program has come under fire from victim advocates.
The four pastors who still serve despite their history of sexual abuse have signed statements agreeing not to be alone with anyone under age 18, said Jim Dwyer, Chicago archdiocesan spokesman. At least one person at their site knows their history and monitors their activities.
"We don't proudly tout our system as the greatest thing that ever existed, because nothing's foolproof," Dwyer said. "But we are trying to do the best we can. And we think we have a good system in place, and we are reviewing the monitoring system."