What would the bishops do?

If Brett Kavanaugh were a Catholic priest, how would we now expect the church to deal with him?

Were he a Catholic priest being considered for promotion to bishop, or a bishop looking to become cardinal, his promotion would be dead in the water until his name was cleared. He would be suspended from ministry and a professional investigation would be in order.

The procedures that the Catholic Church has had in place since 2002 for dealing with the sexual abuse of minors presume that the accused is an adult. Kavanaugh, on the other hand, is accused of attempting to rape a high school student while he himself was in high school. He denies the charge.

Let’s presume that the church would apply to a case like Kavanaugh the same procedures that it would apply to a priest accused of sexually assaulting a minor while intoxicated.

With such a public accusation, his bishop would be a fool to say he believes his priest and close the case without an investigation, let alone promote him to higher office the following week.

A smart bishop would follow the procedures for handling accusations of child abuse by priests and would report the accusation to the police. While most jurisdictions will accept a report of an alleged crime that occurred outside of the statute of limitations — particularly when the allegation involves a minor — there is little they can do.

The bishop would also send the accusation to the diocesan review board, along with any information gathered through a preliminary investigation. The board would examine the accusation to determine if it was credible.

My guess is the accusation by Christine Blasey Ford would be found sufficiently credible to call for a full investigation and temporary suspension of the priest.

The investigation would not be easy since the alleged crime took place decades ago. It would require investigators with experience doing similar probes. It should not be done by the chancery staff, who might have connections to the priest or at least be at risk of rooting for him over his accuser.

The New York Archdiocese wisely hired outside experts this year to investigate then-cardinal Theodore Mccarrick when he was accused of abusing a minor decades ago. The accusations were found by the archdiocesan review board to be credible.

Although television detectives can solve any crime in the hour allotted, real life is not so simple. Although the hope is that an investigation settles the facts of a case one way or another, sometimes the past is unclear. While criminal courts require that the accused be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, a priest can be permanently removed from ministry with less certitude.

The results of the investigation go to the review board, which then makes a recommendation to the bishop.

In the past, the bishops were no model for dealing with abuse, but today the church has procedures for dealing with such accusations.

The U.S. Senate should not make the same mistakes the church did. The accusations against Kavanaugh should be investigated before his nomination moves forward.