The Vatican has issued new guidelines for Roman Catholic churches to use when dealing with the issue of sexual abuse by priests. The guidelines come just days before a former Massachusetts priest goes on trial for alleged sexual assaults on young boys.
NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law will talk to the media at 11 a.m. Wednesday, and will address the issue of the clergy and sexual misconduct with minors.
The Cardinal and the archdiocese do not like to discuss these matters, which are delicate and which have cost the church millions of dollars over the years. Also, within the next week, one of the church's biggest sex abuse cases goes to trial.
Defrocked priest John Geoghan will go to court next week and Law's name is expected to come up during the trial. In 1984, Law assigned Geoghan to a Weston, Mass., church, knowing that he had been removed from two previous parishes for molesting boys.
Now Law and five other bishops who supervised Geoghan have been accused of negligence. Across the Bay State, more than 130 people have claimed that Geoghan abused them while he was pastor at six different parishes in the Boston area.
On Sunday after celebrating Mass, the Cardinal reiterated the archdiocese's refusal to comment on the Geoghan case. Last summer, he acknowledged that he knew Geoghan had problems in 1984, but approved his transfer anyway.
"Our present policy on these kinds of cases, is sound, is responsible, and is thorough," Law said in August, 2001.
Now, instead of handling the cases locally, churches must turn them over to the Vatican. According to an order issued by Rome, church officials must inform the Vatican immediately if pedophile accusations are made against a priest. Rome will decide how a case should be handled, and it will remain secret. Victims will have to make their accusations within 10 years of turning age 18.
The Pope's order was prepared several months ago, but was only released this week, in a 2001 yearbook of Vatican documents.