Bishop Addresses Sexual Abuse by Priests : Religion: In an unprecedented statement, Catholic cleric urges dioceses to respond promptly to allegations.

A leading Roman Catholic cleric Saturday urged the church’s bishops not to tolerate sexual abuse of children by priests and to promptly cooperate with police in investigating such cases.

The unprecedented statement by the president of the National Council of Catholic Bishops followed an eight-hour closed-door workshop on sexual abuse attended by about 240 Catholic bishops. It marked the fifth time since 1988 that the church’s U.S. hierarchy has addressed the issue.

Some bishops have been accused of covering up or minimizing pedophilia, the abnormal sexual desire of adults for children.

“The sexual abuse of a child constitutes reprehensible conduct directed at a most vulnerable member of our society,” said Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk of Cincinnati, president of the conference.

Pilarczyk’s statement was issued after consultations with the bishops, but it was not a conference statement. It came at the conclusion of a three-day meeting at the University of Notre Dame, where bishops again rejected any suggestion that women should be admitted to the priesthood.

Pilarczyk called on bishops of the church’s 188 U.S. dioceses to voluntarily adopt a sexual abuse policy informally recommended since 1988, if they have not done so.

Among the suggested guidelines:

* Respond promptly to allegations of abuse when there is reasonable belief that the incident has occurred.

* Relieve the alleged offender promptly of his ministerial duties if the allegation is supported by sufficient evidence, and refer him for medical evaluation and intervention.

* Report the allegation to authorities and cooperate in any investigation.

* Communicate to the families involved a “sincere commitment to their spiritual and emotional well-being.”

* “Within the confines of respect for the privacy of the individuals involved,” deal as openly as possible with members of the community about the incident.

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles left for Rome soon after the meeting ended and was not available for comment. Bill Rivera, spokesman for the archdiocese, said it has no formal policy on how to deal with the problem.

“It’s done on a case-by-case basis, but it’s pretty standard in terms of reporting it to authorities and removing a priest from whatever position he happens to be in at that time, and urging that he get counseling immediately,” Rivera said.

In the Los Angeles archdiocese in 1988, a visiting priest from Mexico was charged with molesting at least 10 altar boys at two parish churches. Police said the number may have been as high as 26.

The priest was relieved of his duties on a weekend, but police were not notified until the following Monday. By then, the priest had fled to Mexico, met with his own bishop and resigned.

Last Monday, just days before the bishops convened here, a three-member commission appointed by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago released a 93-page report on sexual misconduct involving minors and how to deal with it.

Bernardin appointed the panel last October after several priests in the Chicago area were accused of sexual misconduct with children. Seven priests have been removed from parishes and one has been indicted.

Bernardin called the report a “blueprint for the future” and promised to have the policy in place by fall. He appointed the commission after criticism of the church’s failure to remove a priest accused of sexually mistreating youngsters in three parishes.