June 16, 2005

Cardinal says U-S bishops won't weaken child protection

CHICAGO (IL)
WPRI

CHICAGO Chicago Cardinal Francis George says the U-S Conference of Catholic Bishops will keep its pledge to protect children, even if it changes the way it handles abuse cases.

George and other bishops reviewing the three-year-old policy have recommended that dioceses continue permanently barring guilty clergy from all church work.

The clergy sex abuse crisis erupted in the Boston Archdiocese and spread across the nation.

But at their national meeting in Chicago, U-S bishops could vote to rein in theAbuse Tracker Review Board, a lay watchdog panel they formed, emphasizing that it remains under the bishops' authority.

Posted by kshaw at June 16, 2005 05:12 PM