Abuse and Misconduct

If you have reason to believe a child has been abused or neglected, please contact law enforcement or appropriate civil authorities (call 911 or your local Child Protective Services agency).  To find your local agency in Wisconsin, visit the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families Report Abuse website at https://dcf.wisconsin.gov/reportabuse).

If you have reason to believe that a bishop has engaged in misconduct*, use the Catholic Bishops Abuse Reporting Service (CBAR)** at https://reportbishopabuse.org/.  Before utilizing the reporting system, all are encouraged to first report misconduct and criminal offenses to law enforcement and appropriate civil authorities.

Please note that the online reporting portal can be used for living U.S. Catholic bishops to report allegations of misconduct.  If you cannot recall the name of the alleged bishop or the bishop is deceased, please make a report using the toll-free telephone number provided at https://reportbishopabuse.org/.  You can also contact the diocesan Victim Assistance Coordinator to make a report.

Once a report is made concerning a bishop in Wisconsin, the “Protocol for Making and Investigating Allegations of Misconduct by Bishops in the Milwaukee Province” requires the rapid reporting of misconduct to civil authorities, mandates the full cooperation of Church authorities with law enforcement, and ensures that appropriate Church authorities are quickly alerted to a report of bishop misconduct.  For more information on protocol requirements and process, see the Milwaukee Province Episcopal Misconduct Response Flowchart.

*  The word “misconduct” refers to the offenses listed in Article 1 of the apostolic letter Vos estis lux mundi, namely:

• Forcing someone, by violence or threat or through abuse of authority, to perform or submit to sexual acts.
• Performing sexual acts with a minor or a vulnerable person.
• The production, exhibition, possession or distribution, including by electronic means, of child pornography, as well as by the recruitment of or inducement of a minor or a vulnerable person to participate in pornographic exhibitions; or
• Actions or omissions intended to interfere with or avoid civil investigations or canonical investigations, whether administrative or penal, against a cleric or a religious regarding the conduct noted in 1) – 3) above.

**     The reporting system is managed by Convercent, Inc., a commercial vendor of third-party ethics reporting services, and supported through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).