Abuse crisis has hurt morale of church employees, says McChesney

Published: 2004-11-12

CINCINNATI (CNS) -- One of the unseen casualties of the clergy abuse scandal within the Catholic Church has been its employees -- clergy, religious and lay workers alike, according to Kathleen McChesney, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection. McChesney was in Cincinnati Oct. 26 addressing the 33rd convocation of the National Association of Church Personnel Administrators. In her plenary session address on "Accountability and Abuse Prevention: Long-Term Challenges for the Catholic Church," McChesney said that, besides the terrible impact the scandal has had on families involved, it has caused a major erosion of the "moral authority of the church" because of the issue. "These are messages I've heard from victims' groups, from the media, numerous anecdotal sources," McChesney told The Catholic Telegraph, Cincinnati archdiocesan newspaper. "The message is why should we trust (the church) anymore?"

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .