Ambria Hammel/CATHOLIC SUN

Paul Pfaffenberger, the new director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection, speaks with Teresa Becker of the Safe Enviroment Office Aug. 31 at the Diocesan Pastoral Center.

Diocese names new director of
youth and child protection office

The Diocese of Phoenix has named Paul Pfaffenberger the new director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection.

Pfaffenberger, who stepped into the leadership role Aug. 23, is a licensed counselor in the state of Arizona who spent 20 years working as a mechanical engineer before earning a master’s degree in counseling in 2006.

Pfaffenberger is also a longtime advocate for victims of sexual abuse by priests. He said he became involved in the volunteer work after a clergyman sexually abused a sibling.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said Pfaffenberger will play a key role in helping victims and their families through the healing process.

“From life experience, he knows how harmful sexual abuse of children can be, and how important it is for the Church to reach out to those who have been abused and offer them the help they need to find healing and hope,” Bishop Olmsted said.

Pfaffenberger said the work of healing is “very important to the diocese because there was a lot of harm done and that harm lasts for many years. It doesn’t go away with time — it only goes away with the grace of seeking help and facing the truth and then working through that.”

Pfaffenberger lauded the work of Jean Sokol, his predecessor at the diocesan office.

“One of the nicest things about coming into this position is that there’s nothing to fix and there’s nothing to change,” Pfaffenberger said. “The office has been running very well and providing excellent support to survivors for a long time.”

Pfaffenberger said he wants victims and their families to be comfortable enough to call his office with their concerns.

“The dream would be that people who have been abused or their families are comfortable making a very difficult phone call to this office to seek healing or to seek wholeness again,” he said, “that we can create an environment that is welcoming and is accepting for them and be with them on their healing journey as long as that takes.”

He said he is also working on putting together a retreat for survivors of priestly sexual abuse, something Sokol had already envisioned.

Pfaffenberger commended Bishop Olmsted for his efforts to deal with victims and their families.

“Bishop Olmsted‘s heart on this matter is exactly where it needs to be: He wants truth and he wants love. And he is willing to meet with victims and their families to hear their story and apologize on behalf of the Church for what happened to them,” Pfaffenberger said.

“He’s been very open and very available to the survivors of the clergy abuse to assist with their healing.”