Kindgo
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Source says Vatican won’t reject it as some had feared
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sept. 24 — America’s Roman Catholic bishops may receive a measure of Vatican support for their new clerical sex abuse policy despite criticism from some in the church that the plan was unfair to priests. Pope John Paul II is leaning toward accepting the bishops’ reforms on an experimental basis, a senior Vatican official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
THE POLICY “would not receive formal Vatican approval, but nor would it be a rejection,” said the official.
In recent weeks, there have been a growing number of reports that the Holy See would reject the plan outright, embarrassing U.S. bishops as they struggle to restore credibility in their leadership. American bishops said they were surprised by Monday’s development and knew no details of the Vatican’s plans.
Church lawyers said the Holy See’s approach likely would slow down the process of ousting abusers from the priesthood. By not enshrining the policy in church law for the United States, Rome also would avoid setting a precedent for the church in other nations.
OCTOBER DECISION EXPECTED
Top Vatican officials have been reviewing the plan since it was adopted at a June meeting of America’s bishops, which followed a torrent of abuse claims and reports of prelates covering them up. The Holy See is expected to issue its response to the policy Oct. 10 or Oct. 11, the official said.
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The Vatican’s response has not yet been completed and some clarifications could be sought, but the idea is to allow the bishops’ plan to go ahead as an experiment, the official said, putting the Vatican view of the U.S. bishops’ action in a positive light.
While the bishops did not present their proposal as an experiment, they did say that the plan would be reviewed two years after “recognitio” — meaning Vatican approval — was received.
Monsignor Francis Maniscalco, spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, declined to comment until the Holy See sends official word of its decision.
The Rev. Thomas Reese, author of “Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church,” said Rome’s approach would buy time for the bishops to see how the policy is working in dioceses, for the Holy See to conduct a thorough review and “for everybody to cool off.”
BISHOPS’ PLAN
The provisions the U.S. bishops want the Holy See to approve include requiring dioceses to remove all guilty priests from church work, and, in some instances, from the priesthood itself.
It also demands that bishops report abuse of minors to civil authorities. The Vatican traditionally allows local bishops to have autonomy in handling their dioceses.
There has been growing concern that the policy could not withstand Vatican scrutiny. U.S. church lawyers have questioned whether the plan violated due process rights of accused clergy and whether the diocesan lay review boards mandated in the plan had too much authority.
Church lawyers also argued that removing an abuser from parish work for a single transgression as stated in the policy could be too harsh a penalty, counter to Catholic teaching on redemption. They also argued the definition of sexual abuse — as any inappropriate contact with a child regardless of physical contact — was too broad.
At least 300 priests have been removed from their ministries since the church scandal erupted in January with the case of an abusive priest in the Archdiocese of Boston. Several of the clergy have already appealed to the Vatican for reinstatement.
MIXING SIGNALS?
Monsignor Kenneth Lasch, a canon lawyer in the Paterson, N.J., Diocese, said if the Vatican goes ahead with experimental approval, U.S. bishops will be reluctant to force abusers out of the priesthood, since the Holy See may ultimately reject that provision of the plan.
While the U.S. bishops’ guidelines were aimed at creating an across-the-board approach in handling abuse scandals, the church in the United States is itself divided over policy.
Last month, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, which represents religious orders with about one-third of the 46,000 U.S. priests, decided to allow most abusers to continue in church work, away from parishioners.
When Pope John Paul II met with American cardinals in April, he called the sex abuse of children a crime and a sin and said there was no room in the priesthood for wayward clerics.
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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