Restorative Justice Council in the News

In the spring of 2005, Linda Harvey and The Restorative Justice Council were mentioned in an article in The Sunday Challenger newsweekly. With permission we provide this copyrighted article below.

Restoring Faith in the Church

Program Offers Healing to Survivors of Abuse

By Lew Moores
The Sunday Challenger, April 17, 2005
lmoores@challengernky.com

ERLANGER - The public can learn about the process of restorative justice and how it works for victims of clergy sexual abuse and the community at a presentation Tuesday, April 19.

The Northern Kentucky Affiliate of Voice of the Faithful sponsors the program.

Sue Archibald, executive director of The Linkup, an organization that works with victims of clergy sexual abuse, and Linda Harvey, president of the Restorative Justice Council on Sexual Misconduct in Faith Communities, will speak at the program.

Restorative justice is often an alternative to litigation, where abuse victims file civil lawsuits, and involves a mediator working with the victim and the church.

"There's been a lot of people who have gotten involved in lawsuits," said Archibald, whose office is near Louisville. "Some people have had really good results from that, and yet others have said they wish they could have done this another way. That's because the process can be pretty traumatic. It's a very confrontational process as well. Based on those kinds of reports and the needs of survivors, we recognized there needs to be another option available. And that option is restorative justice. My role is to let people know about this option."

More Healing Needed

The issue of sexual abuse committed by clergy, especially Catholic priests, has been a national issue for more than a decade. In the Diocese of Covington, 205 allegations of sexual misconduct have been leveled against 35 priests.

Of the 35, 16 have died, five are laicized and 14 were permanently removed from active ministry. Since 1993, the insurance carrier for the diocese has paid close to $8 million in insured settlements, and $1.5 million in legal expenses. Since 1989, the diocese has paid $3.8 million in uninsured settlements.

According to the Restorative Justice Council, victims of clergy sexual abuse can use restorative justice when the statute of limitations on civil liability has expired, a suit has been filed but "further healing is needed," or when the victim simply isn't interested in filing suit.

"(The) mediator creates an environment providing the opportunity for forgiveness and reconciliation to arise spontaneously," according to the council.

Essentially, a victim requests the help of the council and the council then offers a mediator.

"Mediators work with the victims," said Harvey. "Often it's not possible to meet with the offender because he's either dead or in prison or whatever. But they would meet with the religious institution that has authority. There's a lot of preparation involved."

Outcomes of the process can be varied, said Archibald. "The process is centered around needs of the survivor," she said. "What they'd like to see is positive outcomes for themselves. That could be anything from wanting to tell their stories to receiving sincere apologies. Sometimes they want information, like whatever happened to that priest. Sometimes they need money for counseling or whatever."

Both Archibald and Harvey say they hope the upcoming program appeals to all members of the community.

"The people I would like to see there are survivors, people from the churches, the laity, people who believe that resolving conflict is the way to go," said Archibald.

"We hope everybody shows up, the church, the community," said Harvey. "It's open to anybody."

Making Things Better

Northern Kentucky Affiliate of Voice of the Faithful, which is hosting the program, supports victims of clergy abuse and priests of integrity and works for change within the church.

"We work on getting lay people educated about the church," said Tanya Stager, chairperson of the Northern Kentucky Affiliate, which has about 30 members. "We are helping them to get more involved in parish life. Initially, we began with educating ourselves about the church, the role of the laity. We talked about the goals of the National Voice of the Faithful, and determined this is what we wanted to do."

Stager said the program is a needed one.

"I think there's a lot of people who are angry, who are concerned about the church, about things that are going on," she said. "And I think that anger, that hurt that we see in people, they are coming forth. They are angry at things that are happening in the church, about the clergy abuse. It's not the church they know. They're coming forth to make things better."