A new state audit of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester offered a mixed review of the church's system for preventing and identifying the sexual abuse of children. Auditors found "significant progress" since last year, but they noted "critical gaps" that remain.

Although the church has substantially improved its screening and training program, the diocese relies on self-reporting by local parishes, schools and summer camps without a central review to ensure proper screening and training, auditors found.

The audit, released yesterday by the attorney general, also criticized the diocese's "tone at the top," citing a lack of enthusiasm for commitment to the compliance program and the auditing process itself. Auditors specifically faulted the Rev. Edward Arsenault, the diocese's top official for clergy conduct, for providing auditors with "a lack of detailed information and candor."

Attorney General Kelly Ayotte credited the diocese yesterday with making "great strides" since last year. But she also ordered them to draft an "action plan" for addressing remaining flaws - including the flouting of a specific provision of a 2002 agreement between the church and the state - within 30 days, or risk litigation to force compliance. The state and the church could also return to court over a disagreement about the number of audits remaining.

Arsenault said the auditors misconstrued his attitude and misinterpreted his response to their interview questions.

"My tone is to be sure that everyone in the church understands that the safety of children is part of our day-to-day commitment in ministry," he said.

Overall, Arsenault praised the audit, focusing on the aspects that noted the church's progress. He said the audit "clearly shows that the promotion of a safe environment in the church, cooperation with civil authorities and the screening and training of all church personnel are part of the regular day-to-day life of the Catholic Church in New Hampshire."

The church and state signed the 2002 agreement to spare the diocese from unprecedented criminal charges for decades of protecting or shuffling sexually abusive priests. Under the terms of the agreement - which did not prevent the state from prosecuting individual priests - the diocese acknowledged its wrongdoing and agreed to implement new programs to train and screen personnel and to report suspected abuse; the church also agreed to a yearly review of its practices.

The state had four stated goals in the agreement: transparency, accountability, oversight and training for the church.

The diocese agreed to annual audits for five years beginning in December 2003. But the audits were delayed when the church objected to their cost and nature, saying a compliance review would violate its religious freedom - an argument rejected by a superior court judge in 2005. Although the audited party typically pays for the cost of an audit, the state ultimately agreed to split the cost and arrange four audits conducted by the international auditing and accounting firm KPMG, at a total of $445,000.

The first audit, released last year, was highly critical of the church, finding that the diocese had failed to ensure that priests, employees and volunteers who work with children had passed criminal background checks or attended training programs. The church also had not dedicated sufficient resources or staff time to working with its 100-plus parishes, 25 schools and two summer camps on compliance.

At the time, Ayotte faulted the diocese for a "failure to take responsibility at the top" and threatened possible legal action. She gave the church 30 days to take action. The church responded with a series of important moves, Ayotte said, recognizing the church for hiring a diocese-wide compliance coordinator and working to screen and train staff and volunteers. (next page »)