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Article removed: Because of a licensing agreement with Catholic News Service, The Catholic Herald may archive CNS news stories for only 30 days. A CNS article has been removed from this site: U.S. bishops' historic meeting in Dallas: Adopt charter, norms dealing with sexual abuse. A related story was published in the June 20, 2002 print version of The Catholic Herald. |
Bishop Bullock votes with majority
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On the Web:
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DALLAS, Texas -- Bishop William H. Bullock of Madison voted with the majority June 14 when American bishops adopted a policy that will bar sexually abusive clergy from face-to-face contact with parishioners but keep them in the priesthood.
The national policy is intended to be binding on 178 mainstream dioceses, representing a major shift from the voluntary discipline guidelines the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has relied on for years. The bishops need Vatican approval to make the policy binding.
On the second day of a meeting filled with accounts of abuse by victims, bishops approved the policy on a 239-13 vote by secret ballot. Bullock said he was "profoundly moved" by the victims' stories.
"What we did was really listen to the victims, but also to the Holy Father who said there is no room in the priesthood for those that would harm children in the past, present, and future," said Bullock. "By identifying with the victims, we came up with clear guidelines and norms and hopefully our action restores credibility with our people after seeing it erode severely over the past several months.
"My vote came back to a couple statements: the Holy Father's and the statement by victims that one case is too many. We really accept zero tolerance. There's no room for even one case of sexual abuse. Even one is too many.
"Our efforts as U.S. bishops has been to admit our mistakes in these past decades and as an expression for doing so we are now resolved to accept the charter and the norms we voted on today," said Bullock from Dallas. "There are now some levels of work ahead of us. We have to implement on the diocesan level and acceptance of our people of the guidelines and the norms."
Under the plan, abusers past and future will technically remain priests, but they will be prohibited from any work connected to the church - from celebrating Mass to teaching in parochial school to serving in a Catholic soup kitchen. Abusers still can be defrocked - removed from the priesthood - but it would be up to the presiding bishop, acting on the advice of an advisory board comprised mainly of lay people.
(For more on Bishop Bullock's reflections on the bishops' meeting, see Bishop Speaks.)
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