Bishops’ conference under microscope
Proposals include one to involve lay oversight
BALTIMORE — The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops convened a high-stakes meeting Tuesday under pressure to confront the child sexual abuse crisis, which has disillusioned many churchgoers.
How the bishops confront the problem “will determine in many ways the future vibrancy of the church and whether or not trust in your leadership can be restored,” Francesco Cesareo, an academic who chairs a national sex-abuse review board set up by the bishops, said as the four-day gathering began.
Key proposals on the agenda call for compassionate pastoral care for abuse victims, a new abuse reporting system and a larger role for lay experts in holding bishops accountable. Votes on the proposals are expected Wednesday and Thursday.
The deliberations will be guided by a new law that Pope Francis issued May 9. It requires priests and nuns worldwide to report sexual abuse as well as cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities.
Advocates for abuse victims have urged the U.S. bishops to go further by requiring that suspicions be reported to police and prosecutors, too.
Among the agenda items is a proposal to create an independent, third-party entity that would review allegations of abuse. Cesareo said all abuse-related allegations concerning bishops should be reported to civil authorities first and then to a review board.
The bishops will also be voting on a proposal to encourage but not require the involvement of lay experts in handling significant abuse allegations.
Cesareo said that including the laity is critical if the bishops are to regain public trust. Otherwise, he said, it’s essentially “bishops policing bishops.”
A national survey released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center illustrates the extent of disenchantment among U.S. Catholics. The March poll found about one-fourth of Catholics saying they had scaled back Mass attendance and reduced donations because of the abuse crisis.
Catholic leaders argue, with some statistical backing, that instances of clergy sex abuse have declined sharply with the adoption in 2002 of guidelines for dealing with such cases.