New sex abuse policy wins strong support

Bishops voted overwhelmingly for the proposal, but critics contend that church leaders have too much discretion.

©Associated Press
November 14, 2002

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Roman Catholic bishops overwhelmingly approved a compromise sex abuse policy Wednesday after the Vatican demanded they make changes to balance fairness to priests with compassion for victims.

Weary of scandal, bishops hoped the new plan would restore their credibility after 10 months of revelations that church leaders have sheltered molesters in the clergy. Victims and some rank-and-file Catholics were dissatisfied and pledged to fight on for greater accountability from bishops.

The Vatican still must approve the policy to make it church law, and therefore binding on the bishops, but the revisions were worked out with officials from the Holy See. U.S. prelates are certain the document will receive Vatican approval.

"We are sometimes asked to choose between the accuser and the accused," Chicago Cardinal Francis George said as he introduced the revisions for a vote. "We cannot choose one or the other. We have to choose both. We have to love both."

The bishops voted 246-7 with six abstentions to adopt the Vatican-demanded changes, which were developed to ensure due process protections for accused priests. The prelates stressed that the policy still promises clergymen will be removed from public ministry -- saying Mass, teaching in Catholic schools, wearing a Roman collar -- after "even one act of sexual abuse of a minor."

A few bishops said the plan was unfair to priests who had been rehabilitated. Washington's Cardinal Theodore McCarrick responded: "We had no choice. We must move forward."

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said the policy gives too much discretion to bishops, whose negligence caused the abuse crisis.

"Bishops have voted to give themselves more power and backtracked from their earlier promises," said Barbara Blaine, the group's president. "It is critical that survivors keep coming forward, regardless of the obstacles."

The lay reform group Voice of the Faithful, created in response to the molestation scandals, said the plan created "a cumbersome procedure" that overlooks "the spiritual and pastoral needs of the survivors."

The policy allows bishops to conduct a confidential preliminary inquiry when a molestation claim is made to determine whether it is plausible. If it is, the accused priest is to be put on leave, then must go before a clerical tribunal to determine his guilt or innocence.

Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, Ill., who contributed to the revisions, pleaded for patience as the bishops worked out implementation of the policy. It will take at least a year to form the courts and train church prosecutors and judges.

"This is a difficult moment for the church so we had to do something to get past it," Doran said. "Will it work? None of us is a prophet. We hope it will."

Bishops are compelled to obey local civil laws when it comes to reporting abuse claims, but no more than that. The church leaders, however, pledged to report all allegations involving children to civil authorities.

Bishop Robert N. Lynch of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, who attended Wednesday's conference, says many of the changes proposed at the bishops' national meeting in June were already in place in the five-county Tampa Bay-area diocese. Lynch stressed that credible allegations of abuse will result in a priest's removal from all duties, whether the alleged misconduct was recent or decades old.

At least 325 of the nation's 46,000 priests have resigned or been removed from their posts because of accusations of sex abuse, with cases dating back years or even decades. Assuming the Vatican backs the policy, many of those cases will be heard by church courts, George said.

Asked about the chance the American plan will win endorsement in Rome, a senior Vatican official told the Associated Press that the climate for acceptance is favorable.

The bishops are trying to heal a church under siege, facing grand jury investigations, hundreds of civil lawsuits and parishioner dissent. Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, acknowledged that it has been a "painful year."

"We need to make sure we are honest and above board and open," he said.

At a June meeting in Dallas, the bishops responded to the outcry by approving their original policy to crack down on molesters. It stressed bishops' authority to pull priests out of their jobs as soon as an alleged victim made a claim.

That worried Vatican officials, who said the U.S. bishops weren't following global church mandates on protecting the rights of priests. The Holy See withheld its approval of the policy until the plan was reworked. The joint Vatican-American commission handled the revisions last month.

The new policy also spells out that the church's statute of limitations requires a victim to come forward by age 28, though bishops can ask the Vatican for a waiver in special cases.

Review boards including lay people will continue to monitor abuse claims, but the policy reasserts that it is the bishops who have the authority to manage clergy.

The crisis started with revelations in January that Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law knowingly reassigned a priest who had been accused of abuse. It quickly spread to other dioceses.

Revised policy highlights

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a reworked policy Wednesday for dealing with cases of sexual abuse by priests. The policy's goal is to get molesters out of church work while respecting accused priests' rights. It involves some complex provisions from church law, and some details will be worked out as the policy is implemented. Here is how bishops explain the plan.

Q: Why did the bishops revise the abuse policy they adopted in June?

A: Because the Vatican would not approve the plan without changes. The Holy See was concerned about due process for accused clergy and asked for other clarifications.

Q: Will priests who molest children still be barred from church work?

A: The bishops say yes, but the process may take longer. Accused clerics who maintain their innocence will be entitled to have their cases heard by a church tribunal, and can appeal a guilty verdict to the Vatican. But even if the cleric wins his case and remains in the priesthood, the prelates say they still have the power to keep the clergyman out of parish work.

Q: Will bishops report allegations to civil authorities?

A: The new policy mandates such notification only where states require it. But the bishops have pledged that in every state they will report abuse of children.

Q: What about allegations from years or even decades ago?

A: The new policy takes note of the statute of limitations under church law, requiring victims to bring claims by age 28. However, it also says bishops can ask the Vatican for a waiver to deal with old cases.

Q: Who decides if an allegation is credible and should be heard by a tribunal?

A: The bishop conducts a preliminary investigation that he may keep private. If the allegation seems to have merit, the bishop is to put the accused priest on leave and move ahead with the tribunal.

Q: Is there a role for lay people?

A: Yes. The new plan requires bishops to set up review boards to monitor how dioceses respond to abuse cases. But the new version underscores that prelates, not lay people, manage clergy. The work of the boards also will be confidential.

Q: Is the new policy mandatory?

A: It will be once the Vatican approves it and makes it U.S. church law, which the bishops say is all but guaranteed.

Q: Who will enforce the plan?

A: The bishops have formed a lay National Review Board and an Office for Child and Youth Protection to compile an annual report on whether dioceses are meeting the new standards. The policy does not impose sanctions on bishops who don't comply.

Q: What did the bishops keep from the old policy?

A: Many parts of the original plan remain in place. The bishops say they won't enter into confidentiality agreements in civil abuse lawsuits unless the victim insists. The bishops also promise to educate diocesan staff about preventing abuse and to conduct background checks on workers.

Q: Why do advocates for abuse victims object to the plan?

A: They say the policy gives too much discretion to the bishops, keeps too much of the process secret and leaves a chance for some offenders to remain in parishes.

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