NEW YORK (AP) - In a departure from earlier policy, the Archdiocese of New York said Wednesday it will report sexual abuse allegations directly to prosecutors without first conducting an internal review.
Prosecutors were notified of the policy on Tuesday.
"When the archdiocese has reason to suspect that a priest has sexually abused a minor, it will report the complaint to the appropriate district attorney's office without review by any advisory committee," the policy says.
The archdiocese serves 2.4 million Catholics in parts of New York City and in seven suburban counties.
Under a previous policy that went into effect on April 8, complaints brought to the church were to be reviewed by a panel of church officials and lay members, who would then decide which allegations to report to authorities. The policy encouraged accusers to go to the authorities.
The neighboring Brooklyn and Rockville Centre dioceses also have agreed to forward allegations against priests without first conducting their own screening.
All three dioceses - serving a total of about 4.5 million Catholics - have revised their policies on several occasions in recent months.
The Rev. Tom Reese, editor of America, a national Catholic magazine, said a trend is under way in the American church to do away with review boards.
"I think that what we see happening is that the bishops are deciding that simply because nobody trusts them anymore, they are turning over everything to the prosecutors and then it's up to the prosecutors to decide what is credible," he said.
In related developments:
* A retired priest accused of repeatedly sexually abusing an altar boy between 1989 and 1992 was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury on child rape charges.
The Rev. Ronald H. Paquin, 59, who was arrested last week at his home in Malden, Mass., is being held on $100,000 bail pending his arraignment next week on three counts of child rape, said a spokesman for the Essex County district attorney's office. The abuse allegedly started when the boy was 12.
In a January interview with The Boston Globe, Paquin admitted he molested boys in Haverhill and another nearby community, Methuen.
"Sure, I fooled around. But I never raped anyone and I never felt gratified myself," Paquin said. "I've gone 12 years and haven't abused anyone, so I'm not a pedophile because I'm not a predator."
* A man charged with shooting a priest he says molested him as a teenager was denied bail Wednesday and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation.
Dontee Stokes, 26, asked to be released so he could see his child and his family, assuring a judge: "I just want to say I'm not a flight risk and I'm not at risk to myself. Although I may be depressed, I'm not suicidal."
A police investigator told the judge that Stokes had attempted suicide in 1996. Stokes corrected her, saying he tried to kill himself in 1993 or 1994.
Stokes shot the Rev. Maurice Blackwell outside the Roman Catholic priest's home Monday after Blackwell refused to talk to him. Stokes had grown frustrated because he was unable to get an apology from the priest, said his mother, Tamara Stokes.