Sex abuse summit proposes new investigative rules
Top clergy worldwide could start their own inquiries of complaints
The American cardinal entrusted by Pope Francis with organizing his global conference on clerical sexual abuse presented Roman Catholic leaders with a set of new proposals Friday, including changes to the process for investigating bishops accused of misconduct or negligence.
On the second day of a historic summit in Rome, the cardinal, Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, proposed that top Catholic clerics in each country, assisted by lay people, should be given the power to investigate accusations of misconduct at the top of their local church hierarchies, instead of waiting for Rome to “come up with all the answers.”
“We must move to establish robust laws and structures regarding the accountability of bishops,” Cupich said in a 30-minute speech with Francis sitting next to him.
The proposal Friday is the most significant acknowledgment yet from the Vatican’s inner sanctum that the existing system for holding its own leaders accountable for the abuse crisis needs to be improved.
Under canon law, only the pope has authority to judge a bishop, and investigations have posed a bureaucratic challenge for an institution with thousands of bishops across the world. The framework Cupich outlined would still need approval from the Holy See, but it is the clearest idea yet of how the Catholic Church globally might hold its highest clerics accountable for misconduct.
“We see them in the middle of a discussion which has not reached any conclusion yet,” said Father Tom Reese, a Jesuit and longtime Catholic analyst. “It is letting the diners into the kitchen.”
There was no guarantee, however, that Rome would codify Cupich’s proposals, or that bishops worldwide would enact them.
In an interview with The New York Times after his presentation, Cupich said that he hoped the top leadership of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops would consider this proposal next month, so that it could be fine-tuned and ultimately approved in June when the American bishops are scheduled to meet.
“This will set us on a trajectory to get this work done,” he said. “If we are ready to move forward, I don’t see any reason we shouldn’t advance that timeline.”
Some corners of the church still deny that clerical sexual abuse crisis even exists, while others blame homosexuality and a hostile Western media. There are also critics who say the notion of bishops policing themselves is merely an excuse for inaction from Rome.
Cupich said that the faithful had a right to doubt the church when abuse was “covered up” to protect the abuser or the institution.
“This is the source of the growing mistrust in our leadership, not to mention the outrage of our people,” he said, urging bishops to listen to victims and to provide “just accountability for these massive failures.” A key step, he said, was responding to the frustrations of infuriated laity sitting in their pews.
“They simply cannot comprehend how we as bishops and religious have often been blinded to the scope and damage of sexual abuse of minors,” he said, adding that any path forward for the church that excludes or diminishes lay involvement “will inevitably deform the Church and dishonor our God.”
While bishops’ conferences in each country might require “special norms” reflecting their own cultural needs, the cardinal said, there were best practices for dealing with accusations against bishops — established, he said, over decades of dealing with the issue in the United States — that should be enacted worldwide.
Some of the measures appeared relatively straightforward, such as local churches making it easy for people to report allegations against bishops online, or through dedicated telephone numbers. But he also suggested some procedures that are likely to meet resistance around the globe, including local churches making more decisions and taking more action on their own and involving the assistance of lay people.
He said that “whenever warranted, and at any time during the investigation,” a leading cleric should be able to petition Rome for precautionary measures, such as temporarily and publicly removing an accused bishop from office.
“Even the semblance of truth” to an accusation should prompt an immediate request to Rome for investigation, he said, and this should receive an immediate response.
And while privacy should be respected, and “respect for the good name of all persons involved” — including priests — should be safeguarded, the faithful should be informed of accusations against a bishop “at any stage of the process.”
He recommended the church of the accused bishop fund psychological care for victims and a common fund be established to cover the cost of investigations.
A protocol should be made for informing congregants of allegations, but “it is important that the accused be accorded the presumption of innocence,” he said.