Horrors of past abuse must not be repeated, says Justice Burke

Published: 2004-02-13

SALT LAKE CITY (CNS) -- Quoting Pope John Paul II, the interim chairwoman of the U.S. Catholic bishops' National Review Board told a Salt Lake City audience that "there must be no more victims" of clergy sex abuse. Illinois Appellate Court Justice Anne Burke said the horrors of the past must not be repeated and the process of healing for abuse victims must prove that justice is being carried out in abuse cases. Burke, who spoke Feb. 7, is vice chairwoman of the review board and has headed it since former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating resigned last June. The 13-member all-lay board was formed in June 2002 as part of the program to fight child sexual abuse adopted by the U.S. bishops in their "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People." The U.S. Catholic Church "is experiencing a rebirth made possible only through faith and human anguish," Burke said. Only faith can make sense out of the struggle brought on by the clergy sex abuse scandal, she said, "and our survival depends on the ability of our hearts to go beyond what our eyes can see."

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