Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, gestures during a Nov. 15, 2022, news conference after being elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during the fall general assembly of the bishops in Baltimore. (CNS photo/Bob Roller)
The number of abuse allegations against Church officials has declined again according to a new report from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, with the encouraging numbers underscoring what the bishops say is a need for reform and justice.
An audit of several dozen dioceses throughout the country, performed by Stonebridge Business Partners, found “2,704 allegations … reported by 1,998 victims/survivors of child sexual abuse by clergy throughout 194 Catholic dioceses and eparchies that reported information.” The allegations concerned abuse “alleged to have occurred from the 1930s to the present.”
Those numbers are down from over 4,440 allegations in 2019, 4,250 in 2020, and 3,103 in 2021, continuing what is now a four-year downward trend of abuse claims leveled against clergy.
A little more than half of accused clerics in the survey year were deceased, the report found, with others having resigned or been removed from active ministry; a small number were still engaging in ministerial duties.
Though the abuse allegations continue to fall year over year, Stonebridge noted that numerous dioceses came up short in how they manage mandated safe-environment programs.
Among those shortfalls were “dysfunction” in review board procedures, a lack of promulgation of reporting procedures, a lack of plans to “monitor the whereabouts or activities of clergy removed from active ministry,” and a failure to ensure that individuals were subject to background checks before contact with minors.
Nevertheless, the report states that the declining abuse allegations “are indicative of the cultural changes in our Church” and that the year-over-year trends “are encouraging as the number of current minor allegations within the Church in the U.S.A. remains low.”
Still, “the changes occurring within the Catholic Church are encouraging but are not the sole solution,” the report states, noting that the “failure to be vigilant leads to errors that could leave yet another child in harm’s way.”
The USCCB’s Office of Child and Youth Protection was launched following the 2002 promulgation of the bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. That measure is meant to serve as “a comprehensive set of procedures … for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy.”
The charter also includes “guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability, and prevention of future acts of abuse.”
Earlier this year, Pope Francis declared permanent the norms and regulations of Vos Estis Lux Mundi (“You are the light of the world”), the 2019 motu proprio that mandated new guidelines for addressing sexual abuse in the Church and ensuring accountability for bishops and clergy who commit those acts.
In making the decree permanent, Francis also added several updates to the measure, including a requirement that dioceses ensure open access to an office or organization that receives reports of abuse, as well as new requirements for certain Church lay leaders.
USCCB president Archbishop Timothy Broglio said in this year’s report that the 2002 charter forms “the basis for the protection, healing, and accompaniment of our children and youth.”
“[I]t is a core value, responsibility, and obligation, that the Church remains vigilant,” Broglio wrote. “It is also important that we learn from our mistakes and experiences.”
“We must adapt and learn to improvise as needed to make sure that the needs of our sisters and brothers who have been harmed are being met with competence, compassion, and consistency,” he added.
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“Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak attends a taping of the show’s 35th anniversary season at Epcot Center at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, in 2017. / Credit: Gerardo Mora/Getty Images
Boston, Mass., Sep 3, 2023 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Pat Sajak, the longtime host of the popular television game show “Wheel of Fortune,” will be retiring after this upcoming season.
After more than 40 years in that role, Sajak is like a member of the family for the show’s millions of fans.
A lesser-known fact about the Emmy winner is that he’s the chair of the board of trustees at Hillsdale College, a small Christian, classical liberal arts school in southern Michigan that is often branded as “conservative” and which one magazine has even described as being “at the heart of the culture wars.”
Founded by Freewill Baptist slavery abolitionists in 1844, Hillsdale defines itself as “nonsectarian Christian.” But Sajak’s many Catholic fans might be interested to know that Hillsdale has a thriving Catholic community of students and faculty — and has become something of a hub for converts to the Catholic faith.
An average of about 15 students from Hillsdale convert to Catholicism each year, Kelly Cole, a staff member from the local St. Anthony Catholic Church, which ministers to the students, told CNA.
Additionally, in recent years certain Catholic prelates have made visits to campus including Winona-Rochester Bishop Robert Barron, who gave the college’s graduation commencement address in May, and German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, who offered a lecture on campus in 2021.
Is Pat Sajak Catholic?
Sajak declined an interview with CNA. While his religious affiliation isn’t clear, a 1993 article from the Los Angeles Times reported that Sajak received an annulment from the Catholic Church. Sajak’s first marriage was with Sherril Sajak, but after they divorced, he married Lesly Brown, his current spouse of over 30 years, according to Hollywood Life.
People magazine reported that Sajak married Brown at a Catholic church in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1989. Outsider reported that this church was St. Mary’s.
A Chicago native, Sajak, who called himself an “unapologetic conservative” in a 2012 interview with the Hoover Institution, has Polish roots and described his upbringing as blue-collar. A Vietnam veteran, he served as a television weatherman before his time at “Wheel of Fortune.”
“Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak speaks at the Hillsdale College graduation ceremony on May 17, 2019, in his first year as chairman of the board of trustees at the college, located in Hillsdale, Michigan. Credit: YouTube/Hillsdale College
Since 2019, Sajak, who is 76 according to the History Channel, has been serving as chairman of the board for the school. But he’s been involved with the school long before he was the chair, serving as the vice chairman of the board of trustees beginning in 2003.
He said in his interview with the Hoover Institution that he came to Hillsdale as a result of his relationship with the school’s president, Larry Arnn, whom Sajak met when he served on the board of the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank.
In that interview, he praised the school for not taking government funding, something that Hillsdale prides itself on.
The school was included in the Princeton Review’s 2024 edition of the nation’s best colleges, earning a No. 3 ranking of “most conservative students,” a No. 2 ranking of “most religious students,” and a No. 2 ranking of having the “friendliest students.”
A Great Books curriculum
Why is Catholic life at Hillsdale so vibrant?
On Hillsdale’s website, the school prides itself on a core curriculum that “considers the spiritual and intellectual inheritance of the Western Tradition and provides a fuller perspective on the world and its workings.”
From the school’s longtime English professor David Whalen’s perspective, the college’s “traditional, Great Books-heavy curriculum” inevitably brings students into contact with many ideas that are influenced by the Catholic faith.
The Great Books curriculum consists of literature courses mandatory for every student.
Professor David Whalen has been teaching English at Hillsdale College for almost 30 years. Credit: YouTube/Catholic Diocese of Lincoln
Whalen, a Catholic who is also the school’s associate vice president for curriculum, said that the amount of Catholic conversions each year is a result of “grace” but “also the natural consequence of young people reading deeply in the Western intellectual and spiritual tradition and reflecting on their own beliefs.”
While the “great majority” of Hillsdale’s faculty and students are not Catholic, Whalen said that the atmosphere on campus is “highly collegial” and the Catholic community flourishes at the school.
“There are enough Catholic students, faculty, and staff to sustain a quite vibrant Catholic community and, at the same time, integrate with the campus as a whole,” he said. “This makes the college attractive to Catholic students, as does its traditional curriculum and strong academics.”
Being a minority on campus, Catholics would do well to brush up on their faith, Whalen said.
“This is a highly intelligent place, and people with different beliefs are going to be articulate and thoughtful about them. So, the Catholics here need to be so as well,” he said.
Taking Catholicism seriously
Cole, who converted to Catholicism the year she graduated from Hillsdale in 2002, said that she took Whalen’s literature course and it had a major impact on her conversion.
But it wasn’t just the literature classes that pushed her to convert, it was mainly the history courses, she said.
“And my history courses were taught by Protestants; it wasn’t Catholics that were teaching this or anything,” she noted.
Kelly Cole, who is seen in this photo with two of her seven children William (right) and Alex (left), graduated from Hillsdale College and converted to Catholicism in 2002. Credit: Kelly Cole
Cole, 43, said that “trying to faithfully engage with history and the history of Christendom and talking about our Judeo-Christian heritage just led to me feeling like I needed to take Catholicism seriously.”
Earlier this year, the Diocese of Lansing posted a video highlighting the 2023 Easter Vigil at St. Anthony’s in which 24 people, 22 of them Hillsdale students, were received into the Catholic Church.
Today, Cole, her husband, Lee Cole — a professor at the college — and her seven children all reside in Hillsdale, where she serves on staff at the city’s St. Anthony Catholic Church, where she was received when she converted more than 20 years ago.
Defenders of the faith
Just as it did then, St. Anthony is the sole institution providing the sacraments to students on campus. But the church works hand in hand with the school’s “Catholic Society,” a student-led club that organizes social events and opportunities for students to receive the sacraments and brings speakers to campus.
Noah Hoonhout, a 2023 graduate who led the school’s Catholic student organization, said that the Catholic Society is “the most active” club on campus.
Among the recent speakers the society has sponsored are German Cardinal Gerhard Müller and American theologian George Weigel, both of whom drew large crowds, according to Hoonhout.
Noah Hoonhout, 22, a 2023 graduate, was the president of Hillsdale’s Catholic Society in his senior year. Credit: Noah Hoonhout
According to the Hillsdale Daily News, the school’s president called Weigel and Müller “ardent defenders of the immemorial teachings of the Christian faith and of the liberty of the human soul before God that Hillsdale College holds so dear” following their lectures in 2021.
Whalen told CNA that when Müller visited campus he was invited to say a few words at a dinner in his honor at the school’s president’s house.
Whalen said that Müller “gave an extemporaneous short talk that was both brilliant and beautiful. It was a great moment.”
The Catholic Society points students toward St. Anthony’s many ministries, one of which is specifically established for Hillsdale students called “The Grotto.”
The Grotto is a house located near campus where students can come and pray before the Blessed Sacrament.
Each week, the Grotto offers Mass, confession, eucharistic adoration, the recitation of the rosary, formation events, and social gatherings for the students, such as “convivium,” where dozens of students will gather for dinner at the house on Thursday nights and hear a talk on the Catholic faith from a professor at the school.
Hoonhout, 22, said that the Grotto is one of the “centers of Catholic culture” on campus.
What’s next?
In Sajak’s long tenure at “Wheel of Fortune,” he has earned several awards, including a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2019, Guinness World Records deemed him to have “the longest career as a game show host for the same show,” which was 35 years and 198 days at the time, according to abc.com.
Although not much is known about what Sajak will do following retirement from “Wheel of Fortune,” Hillsdale has said that he will continue serving in his role as chairman of its board of trustees.
His role at the game show will be taken over by celebrity host Ryan Seacrest. Sajak’s longtime co-host, Vanna White, reportedly will remain with the show.
“Well, the time has come. I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last,” Sajak tweeted on June 12. “It’s been a wonderful ride, and I’ll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all.”
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10 Comments
Dear Bishops, “safe-environment programs?” Please refer to the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas, the writings of St. Louis De Montfort, St. Augustine, St. John Vianney and other notables if you need to pass on to your Priests, Deacons and Catholic Lay Personnel teachings regarding the importance of priesthood, vows and their vital role in the salvation of souls. A “safe-environment” is only as safe as those people that occupy it.
This kind of writing “a small number were still engaging in ministerial duties” is absolutely stupid and lacking. What is the actual number? What is the actual percent? Why not simply paste the actual information rather than some vague approximation?
The only thing that would be “encouraging” would be knowing that all the active homosexuals in the clergy have gone. I doubt that we’re anywhere near that goal.
With this report and the failure of the bishops to absolutely cleanse the Church of this problem, it is very clear why their teaching authority continues to be diminished for lack of competency.
You say, The allegations concerned abuse “alleged to have occurred from the 1930s to the present.” Why is the year of 1930 the “start”? Seems that most churches have had the experience of clergy “rape” of our youngsters.
I was an altar server and a lector in the 50s. The four priests I served were admired for their dedication to the community and their visible love of Christ and their Holy Orders.
A key approach… I see little evidence that the church relies on parents’ observations of their vulnerable children. The attacks must reveal a visible change in the child’s demeanor and actions. The path for parents to raise a “red flag” should be made visible and urged by the bishops.
There are a number of priest, that have been falsely accused that have been put out to pasture. It appears no Bishop wants to touch them. What can be done to bring them back into church?
Deacon, excellent observation. This is so true and a real tragedy but is caused by the bureaucratic mentality of the chanceries in not doing a thorough job in vetting these poor men.
Child abuse was sufficiently addressed at Dallas. Again the real issue is adult male homosexual activity among clergy, and the powerful upgrading, supportive networks within the Church from priest and up the chain of command. This has all the hallmarks of an apostate church posing as the Church established by Christ and the unique eternal revelation of the Word.
Clergy by not addressing this openly have lost their apostolic mission of witness to the truth of Christ as the real revelation of God the Father. If this is neglected it appears to this writer we place our souls in jeopardy for salvation.
Dear Bishops, “safe-environment programs?” Please refer to the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas, the writings of St. Louis De Montfort, St. Augustine, St. John Vianney and other notables if you need to pass on to your Priests, Deacons and Catholic Lay Personnel teachings regarding the importance of priesthood, vows and their vital role in the salvation of souls. A “safe-environment” is only as safe as those people that occupy it.
This kind of writing “a small number were still engaging in ministerial duties” is absolutely stupid and lacking. What is the actual number? What is the actual percent? Why not simply paste the actual information rather than some vague approximation?
The only thing that would be “encouraging” would be knowing that all the active homosexuals in the clergy have gone. I doubt that we’re anywhere near that goal.
Thanks for using the word “active”,
Well when you have a Pope and Priest(James Martin) get away with all the positive LGTQ etc.promotion what the heck does on expect.
With this report and the failure of the bishops to absolutely cleanse the Church of this problem, it is very clear why their teaching authority continues to be diminished for lack of competency.
You say, The allegations concerned abuse “alleged to have occurred from the 1930s to the present.” Why is the year of 1930 the “start”? Seems that most churches have had the experience of clergy “rape” of our youngsters.
I was an altar server and a lector in the 50s. The four priests I served were admired for their dedication to the community and their visible love of Christ and their Holy Orders.
A key approach… I see little evidence that the church relies on parents’ observations of their vulnerable children. The attacks must reveal a visible change in the child’s demeanor and actions. The path for parents to raise a “red flag” should be made visible and urged by the bishops.
There are a number of priest, that have been falsely accused that have been put out to pasture. It appears no Bishop wants to touch them. What can be done to bring them back into church?
Deacon, excellent observation. This is so true and a real tragedy but is caused by the bureaucratic mentality of the chanceries in not doing a thorough job in vetting these poor men.
Child abuse was sufficiently addressed at Dallas. Again the real issue is adult male homosexual activity among clergy, and the powerful upgrading, supportive networks within the Church from priest and up the chain of command. This has all the hallmarks of an apostate church posing as the Church established by Christ and the unique eternal revelation of the Word.
Clergy by not addressing this openly have lost their apostolic mission of witness to the truth of Christ as the real revelation of God the Father. If this is neglected it appears to this writer we place our souls in jeopardy for salvation.