This past Friday marked the announcement that the Archdiocese of St. Louis for the third or fourth time passed

their “Audit” or as I like to think of it, their SURVEY. It made the news here but, the Archdiocese refused to comment. The news stations called David (Clohessy) and asked if he would do an interview on this. He was in Florida with Barb D. and Bob S. at a conference. I guess that makes me fourth string fill in;-) . The “audit” is of little value. It is a good icon Catholic bishops can point to and say “See what we have done!” Unfortunately, as with most of their actions dealing with the sex abuse tragedy it lacks any real substance. The auditors are not given access to records. They merely ask questions or give a questionnaire to the bishops, and he (or a staff member) fills it out, and still 20 diocese did not pass! They ask pointless questions like: do you have a policy in place that spells out Child Abuse is against the rules?

Here is THE REAL VALUE OF THIS AUDIT: St. Louis passed the “audit” even though the Archdiocese bailed Father Graham (A convicted Pedophile) out of prison for $500,000.00. He was placed next door to a child care center at first. When SNAP pointed this out the Archdiocese moved him to an undisclosed location. The report issued by bishops also shows that reviewers found the Archdiocese of Chicago to be in full compliance with the Charter for the Protection of Children. Yet in recent months two priest predators were found working in active ministry even though the Chicago Archdiocese received allegations from multiple victims over two years earlier. News reports from Chicago indicate that children were abused up until a few weeks before one of those priests was arrested in January 2006.

I have very little tolerance when they tell the world they are doing better but refuse to post the names of the offending priests on their website. They refuse to join us in trying to get the statute of limitations lifted. And send FORM APOLOGY  LETTERS out to families who have been torn apart for decades by the bishops cover up and lack of action.

Their 70 page report means almost nothing to me other than it is still an issue they have to deal with.