Our speaker will be Amy Peterson, director of the office of Pastoral Care & Conciliation for the Capuchin Friars. She will speak to us about the Capuchin response to priest sexual abuse and misconduct. Prior to her current role, Amy served as the Director of Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response Services for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Amy has led training on child abuse and neglect, professional boundaries/ethics and mandatory reporting responsibilities. With professional experience managing the Milwaukee Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, and working with Child Welfare Services for Milwaukee County, Amy is a dedicated professional with 20 years of social service experience.
Amy will discuss dealing with imperfect systems; balancing the needs of (alleged) victims and (alleged) perpetrators in investigating and adjudicating matters related to sexual abuse and the challenges in changing organizational culture to prevent and respond in ways that are true to the mission of the institution.
In June of 2013 the Capuchin Province of St. Joseph publicly released an audit report of the history of sexual abuse by friars within the Province. In 2014, a team traveled to Ireland to meet with those doing similar work to share professional experiences in responding to the sexual abuse crisis. Amy will discuss the challenge of conducting the audit as well as the impact it has had to date. (See: Safe Environment)
Mass will be celebrated at 7:30 A.M. in the Chapel of St. Edmund Campion, located on the 4th floor of Eckstein Hall (Marquette University Law School). Mass will be followed by our meeting and discussion from 8:00-9:00 A.M., which includes a continental breakfast (suggested donation $4.00). Parking is available in the Eckstein Hall underground parking structure. (Enter the lot, pull a ticket, and find an open parking space. Once parked, take the elevator to main floor, which opens to the foyer, and go to the welcome desk to get your parking ticket validated.)
