Church Credibility on the Line

Although their new audit suggests that the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church is far from over, U.S. bishops displayed their new era of openness Friday with the disclosure that most dioceses are conscientiously carrying out tough policies governing such cases. Even so, another part of the picture is less promising: Quietly, the church stands on the verge of letting the 2-year-old rules that form the backbone of those policies expire.

Few people were even aware that there was an expiration date -- March 1, 2005. The rules were meant to quell public outrage over clergy members who molested boys and girls and were then quietly transferred from one parish to another, where they found more victims. The “zero tolerance” policy permanently removed priests from ministry work after the first offense. The rules also required church officials to report sex crimes to civil authorities. These ideas seem so basic, yet for decades they were frequently ignored, which is why they had to be put in writing. It will take a formal move by the Vatican to extend the rules until new ones are drawn.

Some Catholic officials say the church will continue to follow the rules even if they expire. Others -- especially abuse victims -- wonder. The rules no longer would have the force of church law, and that’s a scary situation for an institution that has done such a poor job of policing this problem. For the church to retain any faith in its sincerity about ending abuses, a formal extension of the zero-tolerance policy is required.

The rules were developed quickly and under great public pressure, so it makes sense to reexamine them after a couple of years. But a meeting of cardinals and Vatican officials in Rome this month failed to reach a conclusion about new policies. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is expected to do that when it meets in June, though a new document would need Vatican approval, which could take many months more.

It’s unclear why, with two full years to work on the problem, bishops haven’t completed this task. Citing conflicts with Christianity’s emphasis on repentance and redemption, some bishops never have approved of the zero-tolerance policy, and there is talk of softening it. Given the recidivism rates for child abusers and the troubling history of repeat offenses ignored and even enabled by church officials, that should not be allowed to happen. If anything, the rules should be clarified and strengthened to define what the church considers a confirmed offense.

There is beauty and merit in the Catholic principle that a wrongdoer can repent, make restitution and go on to a life of virtue. But this repentance and service shouldn’t take place in a ministry role where more children could be victimized.