Vatican delays vote by bishops

Proposals on abuse would hold church more accountable

BALTIMORE — The Vatican shocked attendees of a key meeting of U.S. bishops Monday, directing Americas’ Catholic leaders to delay voting on key measures meant to hold bishops themselves more accountable in the abuse cases that have scourged the church.

At the same time, the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States suggested that bishops should not look to lay people in the church or law enforcement to confront the church’s sexual abuse crisis.

Thus the bishops of America’s 196 Catholic dioceses and archdioceses were left scrambling, as they learned just as they began their first meeting since the abuse crisis re-emerged this summer that Rome wanted them to drop all the votes on their agenda.

In an unusual move, the bishops had devoted their annual meeting almost exclusively to the burgeoning national crisis starting with a period of prayer today.

Moments after the the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops learned of the Vatican’s letter, Archbishop Christopher Pierre, the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States, warned of supporting outside lay investigations into the church.

He seemed to refer obliquely to both the bishops’ now-tabled proposal to establish a lay commission capable of investigating bishops’ misconduct, and also the more than a dozen U.S. states’ ongoing criminal and civil investigations into crimes by priests.

“There may be a temptation on the part of some to relinquish responsibility for reform to others from ourselves, as if we were no longer capable of reforming or trusting ourselves,” Pierre said.

“Assistance is both welcome and necessary, and surely collaboration with the laity is essential. However, the responsibility as bishops of this Catholic Church is ours.”

Pierre, a French bishop sent by Pope Francis to Washington in 2016, quoted a French author who said that “whoever pretends to reform the church with the same means to reform temporal society” will “fail.”

The bishops had planned to vote on a code of conduct, the first ethical guidelines for bishops, and to create the lay commission.

Instead, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo — the president of the U.S. bishops’ conference — told the group that the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops wants American bishops to take no action until a worldwide meeting of church leaders in February.

Anne Barrett Doyle, codirector of BishopAccountability.org, called the lastminute order from the Vatican “truly incredible.”

“What we see here is the Vatican again trying to suppress even modest progress by the U.S. bishops,” said Doyle, whose group compiles data on clergy abuse in the church. “We’re seeing where the problem lies, which is with the Vatican.”

The bishops, like the advocates who had gathered near their Baltimore meeting to protest on behalf of victims, expressed frustration at the Vatican’s move.

Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago quickly proposed an alternative to the Vatican’s request that no vote be taken. He suggested a nonbinding vote at this session, followed by an additional meeting of all the bishops in March — after Francis’ worldwide meeting — to formally vote on these policies as soon as possible.

Leaders said the bishops will still spend Tuesday and Wednesday debating and fine-tuning their proposals, as planned. They will just conclude the meeting without any binding vote.