Whether you are a recent victim of sexual abuse or were abused many years ago, the diocese offers help
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The calls are not frequent. They often involve cases from years ago. And many times the callers have rarely if ever shared their story before.
When someone calls the Diocese of Honolulu’s victim assistance hotline, he or she will reach Elizabeth Lyons, a licensed marriage and family therapist at Catholic Charities Hawaii.
“If a person calls in, they often don’t know what I do,” Lyons said. “Usually [the caller]’s been an adult who after a number of years is coming forward.”
Elizabeth Lyons, a licensed marriage and family therapist at Catholic Charities Hawaii (Courtesy photo)
What does the diocese offer through this resource? Counseling, spiritual support, group therapy for those who have been abused as a minor by a Catholic clergy member, employee or volunteer. The offerings can be tailored to each person that goes through the victim assistance coordinator.
“No matter how long ago it was and no matter where it occurred, for your own mental health and maybe even for your own spiritual wellbeing, it’s a good idea to remove the burden,” Lyons said about a victim speaking to someone.
A not well-known role
Lyons said she’s probably received about five calls on the dedicated hotline number she monitors in the time she’s been the diocesan victim assistance coordinator.
“But I’ve probably gotten more calls than my predecessors,” she added.
When Lyons gets a call, her role involves some triage.
Kristin Leandro, the Diocese of Honolulu’s Safe Environment coordinator (HCH photo | Anna Weaver)
If a case deals with the current or potential abuse of minors, the authorities are contacted immediately because “the current safety of the child” is the priority, she said.
Lyons then assesses the caller’s situation from a counseling standpoint from there.
Some callers decide after their first call they don’t need any further counseling or contact. Others do want Lyons’ assistance.
Sometimes the caller wants to make a statement or may eventually want an apology from someone.
If a caller says they are pursuing legal action, Lyons must tell them to speak with an attorney. Any pursuit of financial compensation for abuse would have to go through legal channels as well, said Msgr. Gary Secor, vicar general of the Diocese of Honolulu.
Msgr. Gary Secor, vicar general for the Diocese of Honolulu (HCH file photo)
“Based on what I’ve seen, usually the ones that call victim assistance, they don’t want to file a lawsuit,” said Kristin Leandro, the diocese’s Safe Environment coordinator. “It’s usually those that are looking for the counseling and support.”
Lyons also covers confidentiality with callers, telling them she has a requirement to report anything immoral or illegal done by someone associated with the church, whether they be clergy or laity, employee or volunteer.
Usually the victim calling in comes to the personal realization, “I understand that there may be other victims,” and, “I don’t want that on my conscience,” Lyons said.
Because the victim assistance coordinator is not a member of the clergy — Lyons is in fact not even Catholic — she can hopefully be seen as a more neutral third party to those wanting help.
However, if someone working with Lyons does want contact with the church, Bishop Larry Silva or Msgr. Secor has met with him or her.
Leandro said that a few years ago after a number of clergy abuse cases were settled locally, Bishop Silva reached out to every victim that had filed a suit. Only two of them took him up on the offer to speak with him.
“Sometimes people don’t want to see a priest, if there’s a lot of anger. But sometimes they do, and sometimes it’s helpful for them to meet with us and hear a sincere apology and put a face to that,” said Msgr. Secor.
“I think it is very important to know that we as the church want to reach out to people who have been hurt and we also want the truth to be known,” Msgr. Secor added. “We take these kinds of allegations very seriously, and we will pursue them and take action, even if there’s no legal remedy in terms of criminal remedies.”
“We want to help bring healing to people and make those who have been guilty accountable for what they’ve done.”
“It’s a terrible thing. It’s a tragedy. One person abused is one too many.”
In every diocese
There is a victim assistance coordinator in all 197 U.S. dioceses and eparchies as part of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops put into practice in 2002 after a wave of sexual abuse cases within the church came to light.
Lyons has only been the Diocese of Honolulu’s victim assistance coordinator for about three years. But someone at Catholic Charities Hawaii has filled the role since the Diocese of Honolulu contracted the position to the organization in 2002.
Catholic Charities Hawaii has become known in the local community for its expert handling of trauma cases like sexual abuse, said both Msgr. Secor and Lyons. This makes Catholic Charities particularly good at providing a counselor for the victim assistance coordinator role.
According to charter guidelines, the victim assistance coordinator’s information is advertised in the Hawaii Catholic Herald and the papers of record on each island twice a year, as well as having all the information on the Safe Environment website. Each parish is required to have a poster up at the parish and brochures available.
Callers to the victim assistance coordinator or to Leandro at the Safe Environment office don’t always fall under the category of minors who have been sexually abused by Catholic clergy, employees or volunteers of the Diocese of Honolulu. To Lyons, that doesn’t matter.
“I see very little reason for a person not to be able to be helped,” Lyons said. “The diocese is very generous and helpful in many cases. Even if a person doesn’t quite fit, they still try and go the extra mile.”
For example, if a victim was abused outside of the state but was now living in Hawaii or vice versa, the person should still call in, Lyons said.
Sometimes Leandro, as the diocese’s Safe Environment coordinator, will refer people to Lyons. Safe Environment is a program set up by the 2002 charter to train church-related volunteers and employees.
Because as the head of that program Leandro is a more visible face and name to parish and school employees, they will often call her when they suspect a child is being abused by someone known to them, like a family member, but who is not associated with the church or school. After asking if the police have been contacted, she can also point them to resources like Catholic Charities’ counseling services.
“She and I are the left and right hand,” Lyons said as far as working in collaboration with Leandro on cases that come to them.
There are also times when a victim will first contact a parish or school, who puts them in touch with the diocese.
Msgr. Secor said that since the Pennsylvania abuse news broke this summer, he knows of a few people who have come forward locally alleging abuse, generally from many years ago. He knows of no cases involving current or recent abuse.
“I’ve been bracing myself,” Lyons said of expecting more calls. But she thinks new local cases are more likely to trickle than flood in due to the fact that the Diocese of Honolulu is small.
Whether the victim assistance hotline is used frequently or not, Msgr. Secor said, “It’s important to have the resources available.”
Beyond the hotline
Leandro thinks people need to know more about the victim assistance line and the entire Safe Environment program and training overall.
“While there is a general awareness of what we have in place, I don’t think the average person in the pew is aware of how much we actually do,” she said.
“We have quite a number of safeguards in place to try and prevent this from happening again,” Msgr. Secor said, in particular background checks and Safe Environment training for diocesan employees.
Church volunteers who regularly work with minors also receive the Safe Environment training, which teaches how to identify potential abuse and proper behavior around children. Clergy candidates are more thoroughly and carefully screened as well.
“We have a bishop who really takes this stuff seriously,” Leandro said. “And when we say zero tolerance [for abusers], he means it.”
And people are more willing to openly discuss the issue.
“To me I think a lot of the problems in the past had to do with people not wanting to talk about [abuse],” Leandro said. “If it sits in the darkness and just remains secret, we can’t do anything.”
“If the light is shined on it and everybody is talking about it, there’s really nowhere to hide.”
To contact the Diocese of Honolulu’s Victim Assistance Coordinator: Elizabeth Lyons, licensed marriage and family therapist
Call 527-4604 or email elizabeth.lyons@catholiccharitieshawaii.org
