CHICAGO (IL)
NBC 5
POSTED: 7:26 pm CDT June 15, 2005
UPDATED: 6:10 am CDT June 16, 2005
CHICAGO -- Protesters greeted the Catholic bishops who arrived in Chicago for the spring meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Wednesday afternoon.
NBC5's Mary Ann Ahern reported from Holy Name Cathedral, where the bishops arrived to celebrate Mass and members of and members of the Coalition of Concerned Catholics and Survivors Network Of Those Abused By Priests gathered to voice their concern that bishops may try to water down that tough priest sex abuse policy.
Ahern said the bishops arrived in Chicago three years after first putting in place a strict policy for priests charged with sexual misconduct.
"They touted zero tolerance. They touted openness and transparency," said Barbara Blaine, with SNAP.
"What we've seen since then is a continual backstepping from that position," she added.
The Catholic church has spent $1 billion on priest sex abuse since 1950, Ahern said, with most of the money going to settlements and legal fees.
Survivors worry that many of the some 200 American bishops would like to give offending priests a chance to rehabilitate.
"Is it one time? Is it two times? How do we know it's one time? Maybe we should let them back into our profession. This is absolutely unacceptable," said Peter Isley, with SNAP.
Posted by kshaw at June 16, 2005 07:34 AM