As the U.S. Catholic bishops move closer to enacting new protocols for bishop accountability, they concluded the second day of their high stakes spring meeting by approving a measure to design a national third-party system for reporting claims against bishops.
At a time when the U.S. Catholic bishops are meeting to vote on new measures for bishop accountability, Pope Francis has given the green light for a penal process for a retired U.S. bishop accused of multiple accounts of abuse.
As has been the case for years now, a small group of protesters dismissive of the U.S. bishops’ efforts to enact reforms in their handling of abuse cases gather outside the Baltimore hotel where they conduct their general meeting.
Author Dawn Eden Goldstein said she saw the need for her newest book after the U.S. Catholic bishops adopted the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” in 2002.
As the U.S. Catholic bishops gathered for a closely watched meeting with the hopes of enacting new standards for bishop accountability, debate over the role lay people could have in their oversight dominated day one of the gathering.
After the survey for this study was conducted, the Vatican issued new guidelines on abuse, which makes it mandatory for all clerics and members of religious orders to report cases of clerical abuse to Church authorities, including when committed by bishops or cardinals.
The centerpiece of the bishops’ agenda will be four action items dealing with the investigation of abuse claims against bishops themselves or accusations they have been negligent in handling or covering up cases of wayward priests and other church workers.
When the U.S. Catholic bishops gather in Baltimore next week, the theme of their three-day meeting could largely be summed up as “unfinished business.”
In the thick of the clergy sex abuse crisis, thousands of American Catholics descended on the nation’s capitol in protest of abortion where Archbishop Joseph Naumann reminded them that the abuse of minors is antithetical to the Church’s pro-life witness.
On what was expected to be a climatic close to the U.S. bishops’ gathering on Wednesday, the much-watched meeting ended without any immediate action on the Church’s response to clerical sexual abuse.
