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Vatican, bishops to work on abuse policy'Great pastoral care in ... pain caused to victims'
VATICAN CITY (CNN) -- The Vatican and United States bishops will form a "joint commission" to create a policy to deal with priests accused of pedophilia, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Friday. Bishop Wilton Gregory, in a news conference at the Vatican, said church officials there saw problems with a resolution on priestly sex abuse passed by the bishops in June -- problems that were "difficult to reconcile with the universal law of the church and therefore can be a source of confusion and ambiguity." The Vatican spelled out its objections to the American agreement in a two-page letter given to Gregory during a Thursday meeting with Pope John Paul II. "The purpose of the commission is to bring the best wisdom of the Holy See and our conference to a discussion of these issues," Gregory said. "Our goal is to finish our work in time for results to be presented to our conference assembly next month." At their June conference in Dallas, the U.S. bishops adopted a resolution that fell short of the "zero tolerance" policy some wanted, but still made it much easier to defrock a priest for molesting a child. Under the guidelines, approved by 239-13, any charge of sexual abuse must first be reported to law enforcement authorities, then to the diocese, which is to cooperate fully with police. Although each diocese has some flexibility on how to handle the situation, the accused priest will be removed from the parish, stripped of his collar and barred from saying Mass publicly. If a priest admits the abuse or is found guilty of it, he likely will be asked to seek laicization and could be defrocked. Defining 'sexual abuse'The Vatican objected to the resolution's lack of an appeal process, as required by church law, its elimination of a statute of limitations and the provision requiring that accusations be turned over to police immediately. Gregory, who met with Vatican officials prior to his meeting with the pope, said the Vatican also said some language used in the document was "too vague" -- including the definition of "sexual abuse," which the American document defines very broadly. Observers had expected the Vatican would not automatically approve the resolution. Gregory said it was appropriate that the U.S. conference address the issue first because U.S. bishops were facing an intense scandal involving priests accused of sexually molesting children. "I believe that the work the bishops accomplished in Dallas will provide a foundation for analysis that will take place by the mixed commission," he said. Gregory also stressed that the Vatican, while seeking to protect the rights of accused priests, was well aware of the victims of pedophilia. "The officials of the Roman Curia who have been involved in discussions on this matter this week, have shown great pastoral care in their sensitivity to pain caused to victims, their commitment to the need to protect society from perpetrators of abuse, their regard for rights of accused and the anguish caused to faithful Catholics by this sinful and criminal conduct," he said.
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