With last week’s article on the Christian Fellowship Center (CFC) and the debate on pastors as mandated reporters, it would be good to provide testimony from an experienced chaplain. Mandated reporting is a hot topic issue right now as it was proposed by the federal government in 2021 and has caused ripple effects throughout the country. Currently on campus, CAs and theme coordinators are mandated reporters, and in New York state more broadly, nurses, surgeons and even chiropractors have been added to the list.  

The CFC and many other religious organizations argue that mandated reporting is necessary to keep church matters within the church, but as last week’s article described, this can be dangerous. Faith in institutions in general is diminishing at an ever-increasing rate and churches are certainly no exception. Religious institutions have special tax exemptions, and ecclesiastical privileges, and often have elite legal representation. They are groups of a common faith yes, but they are also businesses with material motives and incentives.  

With all this power, should churches be the arbiters of specific abuse cases? Our very own University Chaplain Shaun Whitehead shared a statement on the matter. “It’s a fraught situation,” she said. “However, let me hasten to say that as a minister, a clergy person, our ethical and moral compass must always point us in the direction of caring and supporting persons who have been harmed. Though most situations are complicated, clergy, like medical professionals have been called to DO NO HARM,” Whitehead said. Although this statement does not express support or opposition on mandated reporting and the Child Abuse Reporting Expansion (CARE) act, it clearly condemns harmful actions by spiritual leaders.