The Archdiocese of Chicago has received renewed acknowledgement of its efforts to fight clerical sexual abuse in the just-completed audit assigned by the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops’ (USCCB) Office for Child and Youth Protection.

According to that audit, which was conducted in late September, the Archdiocese was found to be fully compliant with all articles of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. In a letter to Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago, William Gavin, head of the audit firm states, “The conclusions reached as to the compliance of your Archdiocese with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People are based on the completeness and accuracy of the information furnished by the Archdiocese to the Gavin Group, Inc., during the course of the audit.”

The audits, required under the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, were approved by the USCCB in June 2002. The objective of the compliance audits is two-fold: to assist the USCCB’s Office for Child and Youth Protection in the implementation of the Charter; and to provide public accountability regarding how dioceses are conforming to the Charter. The audits have been conducted by the Gavin Group of Boston, a firm composed of former FBI investigators