Archdiocese names seven to abuse review panel

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has named seven new members to the panel charged with reviewing allegations of clergy sex abuse.

Created in 2003, the Archdiocesan Review Board advises the archbishop of an accused priest's fitness to remain in the ministry, and on its policies and procedures related to clergy sex abuse.

Nearly all Catholic dioceses in the United States have created review boards since 2002, when the national clergy sex-abuse scandal revealed that many diocesan bishops decided sex-abuse cases with little consultation - and often kept abusive priests in the ministry. Most review boards are composed of laypersons with backgrounds in law enforcement or child guidance.

The Philadelphia Archdiocese, as it turns out, withheld many accusations against priests from its review board. Several board members said they learned about that practice only this year, after a Philadelphia grand jury reported in February that as many as 37 accused priests were still in the ministry.

"No one was more surprised than we were," board chairwoman Ana Maria Catanzaro said in an article she wrote in May for the Catholic biweekly Commonweal.

"The board was under the impression that we were receiving every abuse allegation received by the archdiocese," she said, but it had seen only 10 of the 37 cases.

Under Cardinal Justin Rigali, Philadelphia's archbishop at the time of the article, the church had "failed miserably at being open and transparent" about accusations of child misconduct, Catanzaro wrote.

Catanzaro did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment, but longtime member Anne Schenberger said that in response to the grand jury report, the archdiocese has pledged to refer all allegations of clergy abuse to to the board.

"There were many things we asked for, and they were very responsive," Schenberger said. Like Catanzaro, she is a founding member of the review board.

She said it was her understanding that the board would also review the findings of a special team studying the allegations against the accused priests identified in the grand jury report.

That team, headed by former Philadelphia prosecutor Gina M. Smith, will advise Archbishop Charles J. Chaput on which priests it believes should be returned to the ministry, and who should be removed.

The new members of the review board appointed by Chaput are:

Michael Boyle, a retired lieutenant with the Philadelphia Police Department and former commander of its child-abuse unit. He is now program director at the Philadelphia Sexual Assault Response Center, which coordinates the rape-response units at area hospitals.

Charles Ehrlich, judge-elect of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. He was formerly assistant chief of the family-violence and sexual-assault unit of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.

Arnold Gordon, former Philadelphia deputy district attorney and a former prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Janet Shaw Lemoine, formerly of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys' Institute, where she trained victim-witness coordinators.

Richmond Parsons, deputy chief of offender services in Montgomery County's department of adult probation and parole.

Laura Rogers, former deputy director of the criminal division of the Navy's judge advocate general.

Robert Spinelli, a former prosecutor with the District Attorney's Office; now in private practice, he specializes in cases "involving companies defending mass tort litigation."

The other members of the board are:

Catanzaro, chairwoman of the graduate nursing programs in the School of Nursing and Allied Health Professions at Holy Family University.

David Ingle, a clinical psychologist based in Rhode Island who specializes in child-abuse and sex-offender treatment.

Msgr. Thomas Owens, pastor of St. Alphonsus parish in Maple Glen and former dean of formation at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.

Schenberger, executive director of Court Appointed Special Advocates/Youth Advocates Inc. and former director of the Southeast Pennsylvania Office of Children, Youth and Families.

Earlier this month, the archdiocese named the Center City law firm of Welsh & Recker to oversee its civil and criminal defense work in matters related to clergy sex-abuse cases.

The firm of Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young, which has served as chief counsel to the archdiocese for several decades, will continue to advise the archdiocese on other legal matters.