BOSTON (AP) - In its final report to Cardinal Bernard Law, a panel created in response to the sex abuse scandal recommended that the Archdiocese of Boston create a registry listing priests who have been removed from duty over credible abuse allegations.
The offender registry is the one new recommendation in the report by the Commission for the Protection of Children. The registry would be kept internally by the archdiocese and would be made available to future employers of priests and church workers.
Law said he will review the new recommendations with canon lawyers and other church officials. He said he hopes to put them in place as the official policy of the archdiocese by Dec. 1.
Recommendations from earlier drafts of the report — including many that have been implemented already — include: the mandatory reporting of abuse allegations to civil authorities within 24 hours; the immediate removal from duty for clergy and staff credibly accused of abuse; and no return to ministry or work for anyone who engaged in sexual activity with a minor.
Some other recommendations are the psychological screening and background checks for potential clergy, church staff and volunteers; establishment of child abuse prevention teams of laity in each parish; and creation of a system to supervise clergy removed from the ministry.
Law has the right to reject any of the recommendations in the commission's 52-page report if he chooses.
Joyce Strom, president of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said there must be firm oversight to make sure the recommendations are followed.
"We've had reports before. ... Policies are only as good as the leadership to implement them," she said.
The commission was established earlier this year after the clergy sexual abuse scandal exploded in Boston. Documents showed the archdiocese had moved priests from parish to parish even though they faced multiple allegations of child sexual abuse.
In another development Monday, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney ruled that the psychiatric records of two accused priests, Paul Shanley and Ronald Paquin, should be released. Sweeney said the confidentiality of the records are not protected under state law.
Shanley and Paquin have pleaded innocent to child rape charges. Both opposed the release of the records.
Elsewhere:
_ A New Jersey Roman Catholic diocese agreed to follow a new set of safeguards to protect against abuse. The measures adopted by the Diocese of Camden let victims whose settlements with the church include confidentiality agreements end the gag orders unilaterally. They also require the bishop to ask church officials in Rome to revoke the clerical standing of any priests who molested children.
_ An Oregon man filed suit against the lawyer who represented him in an abuse case against the Archdiocese of Portland. Joseph Elliott, a former altar boy who won a settlement in his sexual abuse lawsuit against the late priest Maurice Grammond, accused attorney David Slader of violating his privacy by releasing certain information to the media against Elliott's wishes. Slader denied the allegations.
_ A Catholic priest who left the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, following the enactment of a sexual abuse policy has been arrested on charges of molesting a teenager. The Rev. Edward R. Graff, 73, was arrested Friday. Authorities said the alleged molestation occurred recently.