The Mormon Church Has Been Accused Of Hiding Claims Of Sexual Abuse

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Helen W. wasn’t born a Mormon, but she embraced the religion when she was 17 and it embraced her back.

When her son Alex was born with a heart defect and developmental disabilities, it was the Mormon Church that paid for his operations and treatments. When her second son, Zachary, was born eighteen months later, it was the members of her Martinsburg, West Virginia, congregation who helped find babysitters. And when Helen and her husband needed life guidance or wisdom, they turned to their bishop.

Bishops of the Mormon Church — or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as it’s formally called — are laymen, not professional clerics. Helen’s bishop, Donald Fishel, had worked full-time as a utility company lineman before his retirement. But as a Mormon bishop, he played an all-encompassing role in his congregants’ lives.

A bishop oversees the spiritual well-being of his followers, instructing them how to act in accordance with the teachings of Mormonisms; and he oversees tithing, the practice of giving 10 percent of one’s income to the church. He also tends to their everyday needs, providing marriage counseling, arranging for financial aid, finding jobs for the unemployed, mentoring teenagers, and filling other roles. A bishop is “your go-to for everything,” says Helen. “You have a problem, you have a concern, financial concerns, anything. The bishop’s door is always open. You go to your bishop and ask their advice.” Helen says she and her husband turned to bishop Fishel in 2008, when they were confronted with a parent’s worst nightmare.

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