Bishops Ratify Policy on Abuse

The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops overwhelmingly approved a policy on sexually abusive priests Wednesday that they say maintains their stance of “zero tolerance” but provides accused priests with procedural protections that Vatican officials had insisted on.

The policy approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will have the force of mandatory church law after it receives the final approval of the Vatican, which is expected to happen quickly. Under the plan, any priest or deacon who has sexually abused a minor must be removed permanently from ministry. He could also be removed from the priesthood or deaconate.

In other action, the bishops approved a statement raising doubts about a war with Iraq. The statement said the bishops “find it difficult to justify” a war unless there is “clear and adequate evidence of an imminent attack of a grave nature.” They also said they are “deeply concerned” about a policy of preventive wars “to overthrow threatening regimes or to deal with weapons of mass destruction.”

The vote on the sexual abuse policy -- 246 to 7 with six abstentions -- culminated months of efforts by church leaders to end a debilitating scandal. In the last year, 325 of the church’s roughly 46,000 priests have resigned or been removed from ministry, and the church’s credibility has been deeply damaged.

The policy amends an earlier set of rules adopted by the bishops in June. Vatican officials, though standing with the bishops against child sexual abuse, declined to approve those rules, saying they failed to protect accused priests and did not comply with the church’s canon law. The revisions were worked out last month by a team of U.S. bishops and Vatican officials.

Victims’ advocacy groups attacked the revised policy as inadequate and cumbersome, but the bishops said they believe that, with its passage, the worst of the scandal is over.

“We have been faithful to our commitment to make sure the church is safe for children and young people,” said Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles. “There are no loopholes. There are no side doors or backdoors around this firm policy: No priest or deacon can serve in ministry of the church who has abused a child.”

The vote, said Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, should bring a conclusion to “this terribly painful scandal” and put the American church on the path to a “purified and therefore more holy church.”

Added Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston: “We have a lot of challenge. Our work isn’t done, but, thank God for where we are today.”

The scandal erupted in Law’s archdiocese with the disclosure that the archdiocese had knowingly transferred a pedophile priest from parish to parish as he continued to molest young boys.

To restore the trust of parishioners, bishops said, they had no choice but to give up the power to decide for themselves how to treat accused priests in their dioceses.

Earlier this year, some bishops hoped “there might be a possibility of forgiveness” for priests who had committed a single act of abuse and then repented, said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington.

“We lost that.... We don’t have that any more. I think maybe some of us wish we did. We don’t.... We faced a real crisis of credibility with our people. We had no choice but to give it up.”

Bishop Joseph A. Galante of Dallas added, “Yes, we give up discretion power. That’s the least we could do for having misused it before.”

But that lack of discretion was the main reason for dissent among the bishops who objected to the policy.

Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger of Evansville, Ind., who was forced to remove a popular priest from his parish earlier this year because of a 10-year-old abuse case, said he could not vote for a policy that left no room for Christian teachings about forgiveness or conversion.

“Think of St. Peter and St. Paul,” Gettelfinger urged. “Jesus took Peter ... who violated the very Jesus in whom he believed, and not only reinstated him but made him the leader of our church,” Gettelfinger said.

But outside the conference hall, victims’ advocates said the policy still had too many potential loopholes. Passage of the policy is “a very sad day for Catholics,” said Mary Grant of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

The procedures for removal of a priest are complex and would discourage victims from stepping forward, she said.

Voice of the Faithful, a lay reform group with chapters in several states that was born after the scandal erupted, charged that the changes created “a cumbersome procedure” that fails to take the spiritual and pastoral needs of survivors into account.

Under the new policy, whenever an allegation is made that a priest or deacon has sexually abused a minor, the bishop will open a preliminary investigation. If there is “sufficient evidence” that sexual abuse occurred, the cleric will be immediately placed on administrative leave and temporarily removed from ministry pending a church trial.

The policy requires bishops to report any allegation of abuse to civil authorities for possible prosecution if that is required by state law. Even in states that do not require such reports, the bishops have said they will inform officials of all such allegations.

The policy requires bishops to immediately inform the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, currently headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, of abuse allegations. That body could refer the case of an abusive priest to a church tribunal in Rome or send it back to the local bishop for trial.

Currently, the U.S. church does not have tribunals available to handle potentially large numbers of sexual abuse cases. Bishops said Wednesday that they probably will set up regional tribunals, but that doing so could take as long as 18 months.

If a church tribunal finds a cleric guilty, he is to be permanently removed from ministry. A priest will also be subject to being removed from the priesthood. That would be in addition to any punishments handed out by a secular court.

If he were not removed from the priesthood, other limits would be imposed on a guilty priest, including a prohibition against celebrating Mass publicly or administering the sacraments. Guilty priests also would be forbidden from wearing clerical garb or presenting themselves publicly as priests.

The church currently has a statute of limitations for sex abuse cases, which requires that complaints be brought within 10 years after the victim turns 18. Victims’ groups have objected to that limit, saying that in many cases victims do not report abuse until they are in their 30s or later because of the time it takes to confront and deal with the trauma.

Under the policy, in cases in which the time limit has expired, the bishop is required to ask the Vatican to waive the limit so that a trial may be held.

The bishops also approved a separate measure intended to hold themselves accountable to one another for any failure to carry out the provisions of the sexual abuse policy.

The bishops pledged that if one of them is accused of sexually abusing a minor, he will report the allegation to the metropolitan bishop in his region. Bishops, however, can be removed only by the pope.

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A look at the new rules:

Here are some of the key provisions of the clerical sex abuse policy approved Wednesday by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The policy will be reviewed in two years.

All priests guilty of abusing minors will be barred from church work, ranging from saying Mass to wearing a Roman collar to running a parish.

Priests who maintain their innocence can ask for a trial before a tribunal of clerics. If found guilty, they can appeal to the Vatican.

Bishops must follow local laws on reporting abuse to civil authorities. The bishops also have promised to report all cases of abuse of minors to authorities even in states that do not require that by law.

When an abuse allegation surfaces, bishops must conduct a preliminary investigation that protects the reputation of the priest, which means the inquiry can be private. If the bishop determines the claim is credible, he then puts the clergyman on leave and moves ahead with a church trial.

Victims must bring claims by age 28, the statute of limitations under church law, but bishops can ask the Vatican for a waiver to address older claims.

Diocesan review boards including laypeople will advise bishops on responding to abuse allegations. Their work will be confidential and five of the board members must be Roman Catholic.

Source: Associated Press