Bishops OK changes to self-policing
National hotline, code of conduct adopted
BALTIMORE — The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops overwhelmingly — though not unanimously — approved a new framework Thursday for policing their own conduct, hoping it will be enough to stanch a series of scandals that brought to light sexual misconduct and inaction within their ranks over the past year.
The measures include a new code of conduct, guidelines for restricting the ministry of retired problem prelates, and a new system through which the church will investigate bishops accused of mishandling abuse complaints or facing such allegations themselves. On Wednesday, the bishops also approved a national hotline to take allegations from victims of abuse by bishops.
But victims and their advocates responded with a collective shrug, saying the reforms still leave too much power in the hands of a hierarchy that has repeatedly failed to hold itself accountable.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro — whose investigation of abuse in Pennsylvania
dioceses created an international uproar when it was released last year — said Thursday in a statement on Twitter: “Clergy abuse victims should contact law enforcement — not a Church hotline. That only serves to cover up the cover up. Our clergy abuse hotline has received 1,803 calls. We follow up on every one of them. The Church cannot be trusted to police itself.”
The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, a national organization, issued a similar statement: “Any reform that leaves the ultimate authority for investigating abuse and cover-up in the hands of church officials … is no reform at all.”
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala’s office issued a statement saying that he “expects any allegation of abuse or other criminal activity by any member of any religious order to be referred to the proper law enforcement authorities for review, investigation and if appropriate, prosecution. Today’s announcement by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops does not impact or change those expectations.”
Tim Bendig, a Pittsburgh-area survivor of priest abuse and longtime victim advocate, said not only the abuse hotline but the other policies the bishops adopted this week fell well short of what is needed because they do not involve laypeople.
“That’s the only way this should go,” said Mr. Bendig, who was profiled in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation about his case last year. “It can’t be someone with the church who is overseeing this; and maybe it shouldn’t even be someone who is Catholic, because your faith can blind you.”
Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik voted in favor of the measures and said in a phone interview Thursday after he landed in Pittsburgh that the criticism that laypeople would not be involved is a “misinterpretation of how this will actually roll out.”
“I’m a strong believer that laypeople should be involved,” he said. “And we did make a strong commitment that should involve laypeople working with us.”
He said as the changes that were approved this week are instituted in the next few months, people will see that laypeople have a role in the process.
“We can never take enough steps to ensure that the survivors of abuse heal,” he said.
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, described the measures as a “work in progress,” as he presided over a series of votes that passed Thursday morning with little discussion.
The only serious debate to emerge centered on how strongly the new rules should let lay Catholics be involved in future investigations.
“Lay involvement should be mandatory to make darn sure that we bishops don’t harm the church in the way that bishops have harmed the church in the past, especially in light of what we’ve become aware of this past year,” Bishop Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Mo., said.
In the end, the bishops voted that the United States’ roughly 30 metropolitan archbishops — who will now be tasked with handling misconduct probes involving bishops in neighboring dioceses — should consult with civilian investigators and advisers at the initial phase of the process. But they
“Clergy abuse victims should contact law enforcement — not a Church hotline. That only serves to cover up the cover up . ... The Church cannot be trusted to police itself.”
—Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania Attorney General
stopped short of making it a mandatory requirement.
All findings will be submitted to Rome, which will retain its authority over bishop discipline and removal.
The adopted reforms come after a tumultuous year for the church, one that saw top leaders vilified for their handling of now-defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and included the retirement of Philadelphia native and former West Virginia Bishop Michael J. Bransfield amid claims that he harassed priests or seminarians.
They also follow a road map laid out by Pope Francis last month. That edict was designed to provide a global response to the crisis that has threatened to overwhelm his papacy and embroiled the Church for nearly two decades.
The bishops also voted Thursday to re-evaluate and fine-tune their reforms after three years.