Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

New Progress Report in Sex Abuse Scandal

Aired January 06, 2004 - 06:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Shifting our focus now to the Catholic Church abuse scandal. It was two years ago this week that the crisis heated up with revelations about a predatory priest in Boston. A new report tracks the progress that's been made in identifying and eliminating sex abuse by priests.
CNN's Jason Carroll has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 190 dioceses across the country were audited to determine how well they've been implementing tougher sexual abuse standards adopted by the U.S. Conference of Bishops a year and a half ago. The outcome? Many bishops are complying, but much more needs to be done.

KATHLEEN MCCHESNEY, OFFICE OF CHILD AND YOUTH PROTECTION: There are areas in which the church was -- the bishops were doing well and some areas where they weren't doing as well. We definitely found trends within the audit results.

CARROLL: What does the audit say bishops are still lacking? How they deal with victims.

Kathleen McChesney heads the Office of Youth and Child Protection, an office formed by the bishops to oversee the process.

MCCHESNEY: The one thing that I can tell you where they need to do more work is in reaching out to victims.

CARROLL: But the audit also found many bishops took better steps to remove priests accused of abuse from service. Victims' rights groups questioned the validity of the audit.

DAVID CLOHESSY, SURVIVORS NETWORK OF THOSE ABUSED BY PRIESTS: The plain and simple truth is that each bishop is the lord of his own kingdom, and no one can force a bishop to disclose secrets that he doesn't want to disclose.

CARROLL: The audit does not give a best and worst list, but it does show what each diocese has done to make it a safer place for children and what it hasn't.

REV. THOMAS REESE, AMERICAN MAGAZINE: This is unprecedented to have an outside group come in that's independent and audit and check to see what the church is doing and report that publicly to the world, so that we know, you know, which bishops are doing their job and which ones aren't.

CARROLL (on camera): The next phase of the audit could be the most telling. For the first time, it aims to reveal the extent of the problem by providing the number the church has been able to identify of sexual abuse victims, as well as the number of priests accused of abuse since 1950. Many clergy say the results are staggering. They'll be available sometime in February.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired January 6, 2004 - 06:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Shifting our focus now to the Catholic Church abuse scandal. It was two years ago this week that the crisis heated up with revelations about a predatory priest in Boston. A new report tracks the progress that's been made in identifying and eliminating sex abuse by priests.
CNN's Jason Carroll has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 190 dioceses across the country were audited to determine how well they've been implementing tougher sexual abuse standards adopted by the U.S. Conference of Bishops a year and a half ago. The outcome? Many bishops are complying, but much more needs to be done.

KATHLEEN MCCHESNEY, OFFICE OF CHILD AND YOUTH PROTECTION: There are areas in which the church was -- the bishops were doing well and some areas where they weren't doing as well. We definitely found trends within the audit results.

CARROLL: What does the audit say bishops are still lacking? How they deal with victims.

Kathleen McChesney heads the Office of Youth and Child Protection, an office formed by the bishops to oversee the process.

MCCHESNEY: The one thing that I can tell you where they need to do more work is in reaching out to victims.

CARROLL: But the audit also found many bishops took better steps to remove priests accused of abuse from service. Victims' rights groups questioned the validity of the audit.

DAVID CLOHESSY, SURVIVORS NETWORK OF THOSE ABUSED BY PRIESTS: The plain and simple truth is that each bishop is the lord of his own kingdom, and no one can force a bishop to disclose secrets that he doesn't want to disclose.

CARROLL: The audit does not give a best and worst list, but it does show what each diocese has done to make it a safer place for children and what it hasn't.

REV. THOMAS REESE, AMERICAN MAGAZINE: This is unprecedented to have an outside group come in that's independent and audit and check to see what the church is doing and report that publicly to the world, so that we know, you know, which bishops are doing their job and which ones aren't.

CARROLL (on camera): The next phase of the audit could be the most telling. For the first time, it aims to reveal the extent of the problem by providing the number the church has been able to identify of sexual abuse victims, as well as the number of priests accused of abuse since 1950. Many clergy say the results are staggering. They'll be available sometime in February.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.