Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

Our journey as Catholics in the United States has not been easy since January of 2002. A dark cloud has been cast over the Church by the crisis of child sexual abuse by some bishops, priests and deacons. This terribly scandalous situation has tarnished the credibility of the Church’s leadership, especially of the bishops.

In June of 2002, we bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. In it, we recognized that the bonds of trust had been strained. We also recognized that to restore trust, we need to reach out for God’s help and also to work in full collaboration with our people. Moreover, we acknowledged that the task of rebuilding trust needed to begin with actions — first at our General Meeting in June of 2002, and then at home in our individual dioceses.

Sadly, within our 30-year history, the Diocese of Arlington has not been exempt from instances of abuse of children by priests and deacons. We must pray for forgiveness and reconciliation, for healing and new hope, especially for the victims of this terrible abuse and for their families. In union with my brother bishops, I ask forgiveness and pledge my every effort to do what is right and good. I find it deplorable that the painful circumstances we are trying to address occurred and it pains me personally that avoidable suffering was compounded by the errors of Church leaders.

With the passing of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in 2002 came a heightened awareness of the steps the Church needed to take in order to ensure the safety and protection of children. The Charter includes both steps to address the problem of child sexual abuse and also the means to make the bishops accountable for implementing these steps. When I arrived in the Diocese of Arlington in 1999, I found that a strong sexual abuse/misconduct policy, together with mandatory seminars on the policy for all diocesan staff and volunteers who have contact with children, was in place as of 1991. Since the passage of the Charter in 2002, the Diocese of Arlington has established a majority lay-person Review Board to assist me in my assessment of any instances of child sexual abuse by clergy; established a majority lay-person Advisory Board, which serves in an advisory role in the formulation of child sexual abuse policies and procedures; hired a Director of Child Protection and Safety and Victim Assistance Coordinator; instituted official criminal history background checks on all priests, teachers, teachers’ aides and Catholic Charities personnel; revised its policy on sexual abuse and misconduct; updated its sexual abuse/misconduct seminars in light of the Charter; and participated in the national audit and in the national John Jay Study commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

As your bishop, I assure you that as far as humanly possible, we will do all that we can in the Diocese of Arlington to ensure that there are no further instances of abuse of minors by priests, deacons, religious, employees or volunteers of our diocese. I can tell you that at this time there are no allegations of sexual abuse of minors against any of our priests who are in ministry, nor to my knowledge is there any priest serving in this diocese who is a danger to children. I am taking this opportunity, in advance of the Feb. 27 release of the John Jay Study on the nature and scope of the crisis of child sexual abuse in the Church, to report to you on all known incidents of sexual abuse of minors by clergy in the history of the Diocese of Arlington.

The John Jay Study was undertaken at the request of the bishops themselves. In Article nine of the Charter, we bishops wrote: "The National Review Board will commission a descriptive study, with the full cooperation of our dioceses/eparchies, of the nature and scope of the problem within the Catholic Church in the United States, including such data as statistics on perpetrators and victims." This study will contain information about the number of clergy alleged to have perpetrated sexual abuse of minors, how many victims there have been and associated financial costs.

Sadly, we cannot change history, but we can do all that is possible not to repeat it. One way to do that is to have available the significant data which help us to understand the nature and scope of the problem. With this information in hand, we can determine whether the steps we have taken are adequate to address the problem. As a result, although the John Jay Study has no real counterpart in any other profession, we have taken the initiative in doing this in order to make every effort to ensure that this terrible problem will not reoccur in the Church.

In his Second Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul continues, "We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor 4:8-11). As we continue to pass through this period of purification and conversion, I call upon the lay faithful to increase your prayers for victims and their families, as well as for bishops, priests, deacons and religious. Let no one be driven to despair, but rather through this time of adversity, deepen his or her faith and contribute to the healing of the Church. We are a family, and we need each other in order to be faithful to God and to grow in holiness.

Let us call to mind the words of our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, who said in 2002, "We must be confident that this time of trial will bring a purification of the entire Catholic community, a purification that is urgently needed if the Church is to preach more effectively the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all its liberating force."

This terrible scandal and the response to it have caused great divisiveness throughout our Church in these United States. May God heal those who have suffered as victims of abuse. Strengthened by our prayers and penance, may we, as a Church and as a family, come together and work to repair the damage done by these sinful and criminal acts and the violation of trust they have caused.

I am hopeful that with this account of our past, together with a rigorous framework to heighten the safety of children under our care, we will emerge more deeply and steadfastly committed to the call to holiness.

Assuring you of a daily remembrance in my prayers, especially as we prepare to enter into the Lenten season, I remain

Faithfully in Christ,

Most Reverend Paul S. Loverde