OKLAHOMA CITY -- A national review panel waded into a church
conflict over disciplining sexually abusive priests Monday, urging religious
orders to comply with the discipline policy adopted by America's Roman Catholic
bishops.
Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, chairman of the bishop-appointed National Review
Board, said his group will formally ask the Conference of Major Superiors of
Men to reverse its August decision to allow most abusers to continue in church
work away from parishioners.
U.S. bishops agreed three months ago to remove guilty priests from all church
work -- from celebrating Mass to working in a Catholic soup kitchen -- and in
some cases from the priesthood altogether.
The Conference of Major Superiors represents religious orders such as the
Franciscans and Domincans, which make up about a third of the nation's 46,000
priests. The conference said the bishops' approach violated Catholic belief in
redemption and ignored research indicating that some abusers can be
rehabilitated.
But Keating said he and board Vice Chair Anne Burke, an Illinois appellate
judge, will write the conference with the "urgent request that they
implement precisely the same policy that the bishops approved in Dallas."
Having the orders signed on would ensure that there's a uniform policy for all
U.S. priests.
Marita Eddy, a spokeswoman for the Conference of Major Superiors, did not
return a message left at her office late Monday.
The review board, made up of 13 prominent lay Catholics, was established as a
way to help enforce the reforms which the bishops approved in June to stem the
clerical sex abuse crisis.
The governor said information the committee has gathered so far indicates most
dioceses are implementing the plan. Still, Keating said the review board will
soon reveal the names of bishops who are failing to comply.
Keating did not provide specifics -- including a timetable for releasing the
names -- but said just a few of the 195 dioceses provided no information for
the panel's review and about 10 percent of the dioceses needed to clarify the
information they provided.
The governor spoke after the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said
it has evidence that 13 of the nation's 195 dioceses have failed to meet the
new standards. SNAP representatives met with the board for more than an hour
Monday.
Susan Archibald, president of The Linkup, another victims' advocacy group at
the meeting, noted the board has only advisory powers and "was placed into
battle with very few weapons" except its ability to alert the public about
which prelates were violating the plan.
"We still see little accountability for the senior management of the
American church," SNAP said in a statement it presented to the board.
"We are afraid that dozens of priests with histories of sexual abuse
remain in public ministry."
The board has met just twice, allowing advocates for victims to participate
briefly in both sessions.
Washington attorney Robert Bennett, a member of the board, said Monday he will
lead a subcommittee researching how the church reached its current plight.