As promised by the U.S. bishops, the Diocese of Helena has established a group of competent people to turn to for advice. As stated in the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, “Dioceses will have a review board that functions as a confidential consultative body to the bishop… The majority of its members will be lay persons not in the employ of the diocese… This board will advise the diocesan bishop in his assessment of allegations of sexual abuse of minors and in his determination of suitability for ministry. It will regularly review diocesan policies and procedures for dealing with sexual abuse of minors. Also, the board can review those matters both retrospectively and prospectively and give advice on all aspects of responses required in connection with these cases.”

The members of the review board for the Diocese of Helena are introduced below. In addition, all members of the response team are ex-officio members of the review board.

Steve Barry

Steve Barry and his wife Laura were raised in the Three Forks-Willow Creek area and have been active members of Our Lady of the Valley Parish for over 23 years. They have four adult children and three grandchildren, all who reside in Montana.

Steve is a graduate of Montana State University and Northwestern University Traffic Institute School of Police Staff and Command. He retired after 24 years of service as Deputy Chief of the Montana Highway Patrol; served as Human Resource Bureau Chief for the Department of Justice; and is currently Administrator of the Human Resource Division of the Montana Department of Corrections.

Steve has served on parish finance and pastoral councils and chaired the Diocesan Conference of the Holy Spirit. He currently serves on the Diocesan Pastoral Council, and he and Laura are in the second year of the diocese's Permanent Diaconate Formation Program.

Ann Buckner

Ann lives in Bozeman, Mont. Married to Steve, they enjoy their five beautiful school-aged children and are active members of Resurrection Parish.

Ann grew up in Spokane, Wash. She graduated from Carroll College in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in English and communications with secondary education and a minor in psychology. Ann taught middle school at St. Mary’s in Livingston before starting a family. Ann‘s primary vocation is raising her five children and being involved in their activities. Once all the kids were in school full time, she returned to teaching in the classroom part time in 2006.

Over the past 20 years in Bozeman, Ann volunteered in numerous community organizations including: event coordinator for past Special Olympics Benefit Dinner, Pilgrim Preschool Board Member, past Montana Association of Catholics in Commerce event coordinator, ongoing involvement in Bozeman Public Schools.

Ann teaches middle school students at Resurrection Parish and currently serves as the Faith Formation Coordinator for grades K-12. Ann and Steve led Pre-Cana weekends for engaged couples at Resurrection Parish for 14 years and are presently committed to the Diaconate Candidacy Program for the Diocese of Helena.

Michael Shaun Donovan

Michael Shaun Donovan was born in Helena, MT; he graduated as valedictorian from Helena Central High School in 1969. He graduated with a bachelor's in biological sciences from Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., in 1973, then attended the University of Montana and Montana State University from 1973-1976. In June 1979, he graduated from UM Law School after working as law clerk for the Legal Aid Foundation of Long Beach, Calif., and Datsopoulos, MacDonald and Lind in Missoula. He married Patricia Steinbacher in 1979, and they have three children.

He was sworn in as Mineral County Attorney in June 1979 and was re-elected County Attorney seven times. He served as the president of the Montana County Attorney’s Association from 1997 to 1998. In 2004, Michael was selected as the “Outstanding Prosecutor of the Year” by the Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Montana Attorney General’s Office and State Bar of Montana.

Also in 2004, he was appointed to the Montana Supreme Court Commission on Courts of Limited Jurisdiction.

Father Robert Grosch

Father Robert Grosch, JCL, is the Promoter of Justice for the Diocese of Helena. He acts as an ex-officio member of the review board, providing canonical counsel to accused clerics, a requirement specified in the Essential Norms laid out by the USCCB. At times, victims too will need to understand the canonical aspects of proceedings. Father Grosch will lend his expertise at all levels of investigation if an allegation of abuse arises.

Father Grosch is the pastor of St. Jude Catholic Church in Havre, Mont. (Diocese of Great Falls/Billings). He was ordained in 1974 and received his canon law degree in 1988 from the University of Ottawa.

Carol McEvoy

Carol McEvoy and her husband Larry have four adult children. They have lived in Montana since 1975 and are active members of St. Mary Catholic Community.

Carol holds a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in Washington, D.C., a master of science degree in biochemistry from Marquette University and a master of arts degree in marriage, family and child therapy from the California Family Study Center, now the Phillips Graduate Institute. Carol is licensed as a clinical professional counselor in the state of Montana. She is a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. She is in private practice as a marriage and family therapist in Helena, Mont.

Carol taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, Wis., and the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn. She was involved in religious education wherever she lived, including the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in Eagle Butte, S.D. She was in hospice ministry at St. Peter’s Hospital, Helena, for six years.

Carol has taught workshops for the Dioceses of Helena and Great Falls-Billings. Topics included: living the principles of the U.S. bishops’ peace pastoral, helping parents and teens develop a healthy and spiritual understanding of human sexuality, grief, death and dying, and youth issues.

Rosemary Miller

Rosemary Miller was born in Anaconda, and attended Catholic grade and high schools. She and her husband have lived in Helena since 1971, where they are members of St. Mary’s Parish. They have one daughter attending Gonzaga University.

Rosemary has worked for the past 27 years in the field of child protection as a social worker and supervisor. Currently she is the director of Catholic Social Services of Montana. She holds a master’s degree in counseling from Montana State University, and has been a licensed professional counselor. Rosemary serves on the Diocesan Stewardship Council and is vice president of the board of directors for the Florence Crittenton Home in Helena.

Father Gary Reller

Father Gary Reller was ordained for the Diocese of Helena in 1971. He served several parishes in the diocese as associate pastor and was appointed pastor of Risen Christ Parish in Kalispell in 1978. since then he has served as pastor of St. Ann Parish in Butte, Immaculate Conception Parish in Polson with Sacred Heart in Ronan, and is currently at St. Anthony Parish in Missoula. He spent two years as executive director of the National Federation of Priests' Councils in Chicago, and has been appointed or elected to a number of diocesan committees and boards.

Father Reller is presently the Vicar for Clergy and chairs the diocesan Personnel Board. He is a current member of the Presbyteral Council and the College of Consultors.

Bishop George Leo Thomas

Bishop George Leo Thomas became the tenth Bishop of the Diocese of Helena on June 4, 2004.

Bishop Thomas is not actually a member of the review board; in his capacity as bishop, the board exists to advise him.

Ex-Officio Members

Sister Rita McGinnis, SCL

Sister Rita McGinnis, SCL, is the director of Chancery Services for the Diocese of Helena, as well as the Pastoral Planning Services director and Diocesan Contact Person for victims and for the Safe Environment programs.

Sister McGinnis graduated from Washburn University in Topeka, Kan., in 1965, the same year she became a Sister of Charity of Leavenworth. She taught English, speech and drama in Kansas City, Mo., (1966-1975), Billings, Mont. (1975-1978), and at Butte Central High in Butte (1978-1979).

She also got her master’s degree in Catholic secondary school administration from the University of San Francisco in 1980, and moved on to become the associate administrator at Bishop Hogan High School in Kansas City, Mo., and principal at Bishop Ward High School in Kansas City, Kan.

She served as director of the Pastoral Division of the Diocese of Helena from 1993-1998. Sister McGinnis then returned to the motherhouse in Leavenworth to serve as community councilor for her community. In 2005, she accepted the position as director of Pastoral Planning Services for the Diocese of Helena.

Father John Robertson

Father John W. Robertson is the Judicial Vicar for the Diocese of Helena and the Episcopal Vicar for Canonical Services. As such, he serves as an ex-officio member of the review board. Born in 1945 and ordained in 1971, Father Robertson graduated from Harlowton High School; Carroll College; the Sulpician Seminary of the Northwest (master’s of divinity), and the Catholic University of America (J.C.L. – licentiate in canon law).

Father Robertson has served the diocese as vice chancellor, chancellor; moderator of the curia; vicar for Catholic schools and vicar for canonical concerns. He has served on the faculty of Butte Central High School (1971-73), and as pastor of St. Charles Parish in Whitefish (1981-83). He was associated with St. Mary Catholic Community in Helena while chancellor (c. 1988-2001); and served as sacramental minister for Holy Spirit Parish in Butte and St. Mary Catholic Community in Helena.