U.S. Catholic bishops voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to approve a revised priest sex-abuse policy that they say still guarantees that any priest who commits a single crime against a minor will be permanently removed from ministry.
Hoping to help the church move forward after 10 months of crisis, the bishops voted at their annual fall meeting to establish a system of tribunals they believe will give priests a fair trial while assuring justice for victims.
The U.S. church now “has a judicial process for bringing to conclusion … this terribly painful scandal,” said Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, who led a team of four American bishops in drafting the revisions with Vatican officials.
“There’s a feeling of sadness [over] this terrible sin,” he said after the 246-7 vote. “But we will try to overcome it, to go beyond it.”
After enduring complaints that the bishops had addressed priests’ failings but not their own, they also passed a one-page statement on accountability for bishops.
The document was revised Wednesday to acknowledge that some bishops had transferred problem priests from parish to parish, and to “take responsibility for dealing with this problem strongly, consistently and effectively in the future.”
Without that addition, said Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Goedert, priests would have said bishops “threw the book at us” but were “unwilling to address their own failure and responsibility.”
The Vatican still has to approve the revised policy, but bishops say recognition is certain. The Holy See failed to approve the original sex-abuse policy, drafted in Dallas in June, because it did not conform to church law.
The new policy upholds the statute of limitations in canon law, which says a case cannot be tried after a victim turns 28. But the Vatican will determine whether to lift the statute on a case-by-case basis.
“I expect they will almost always say yes,” George said in an interview. “We’ll see.”
If the Vatican refuses to lift the statute, bishops must use their administrative authority to remove an abusive priest from ministry, George said.
Several bishops attending the conference said they were reluctant to approve the new policy without further revision. Some worried that bishops would give up too much of their power to tribunals. Others objected to the fact that repentant priests who had abused just one time could never be restored to ministry. And some were just confused over how the policy would work.
George was said to be influential in changing their minds, working to persuade hesitant bishops during a closed-door executive session Tuesday.
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, auxiliary bishop of Detroit, said he considered voting no until George convinced him that the Vatican would be inclined to lift the statute of limitations when needed.
“It’s not that he had to smooth talk us,” Gumbleton said. “It was about substance.”
Bishop Joseph Imesch of Joliet said he “had some uncertainties” before George clarified the process. “When he says something, it’s difficult to disagree,” Imesch said.
During a public discussion of the rules on Wednesday morning, most bishops who spoke expressed approval of the plan.
“I really applaud the way protections have been built in and various alternatives provided,” said Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles. “It brings us a long way down the road to help solve the problem and gives us a framework and mechanism for the future.
A few voted in favor despite reservations.
“When we voted we didn’t know exactly what we were voting for,” said Bishop James Moynihan of Syracuse, N.Y., who was troubled that bishops did not know how much it would cost to set up and staff tribunals–or how long it would take. “I think the result will be delays,” he said, “And I believe justice delayed is justice denied.”
Although the vote was by secret ballot, Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger of Evansville, Ind., said publicly that he planned to vote no because there was no provision for reinstating a priest who had demonstrated “true conversion.”
“I am greatly pained for those who have deep wounds,” he said. “I’m also pained about those who have sinned and have been able to show they can change.”
Bishops said repeatedly that under the revised policy, no guilty priest would be allowed to serve in ministry–no matter how repentant or how old the case.
“Even forgiven sin has its consequences,” George said.
Under the new rules, if a priest is accused of abuse, a review board considers the allegations in confidence while the priest continues to work. If the board determines the charges are credible, it recommends that the bishop temporarily remove the priest from ministry.
The bishop then notifies the Vatican’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. The congregation decides whether to lift the statute of limitations, if applicable, and whether to send the case to a U.S. tribunal.
If the priest is found guilty, the tribunal permanently removes the priest from ministry and, in some cases, the priesthood. Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, a canon lawyer, said he expects the U.S tribunals will be in place within a year.
Allowing tribunals to determine priests’ fate, said George, is a consequence for bishops’ failure to protect children.
“The scandal of the church has arisen because not only have priests and deacons and some bishops sexually abused minors, also bishops in various part of the country have … protected priests,” he said.
Jimmy Lago, chancellor for the Chicago archdiocese, does not anticipate the policy will require the diocese to change its sex-abuse procedures beyond incorporating the tribunals. Priests previously removed can request a trial, he said.
Now that the U.S. church policy is finalized, Lago said the archdiocese will release in a week or two its long-awaited report on priest sex abuse cases from the last decade.
When asked whether the new rules would have a healing effect, George said it was a tough question to answer.
“It depends on whether there is a will to be healed,” he said. “People who suffer this kind of abuse are affected a long time. We cannot demand they be healed. … People find their own healing.”
