CHICAGO (IL)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By Kevin Eckstrom
Religion News Service
CHICAGO - When the nation's Catholic bishops adopted new policies to clamp down on clergy sexual abuse in 2002, they appointed a review board of prominent lay Catholics to help monitor the bishops' progress.
But three years later, as the bishops meet here this week to renew those same policies, some are concerned that the bishops are tightening the screws on theAbuse Tracker Review Board and trying to limit its independent voice.
Church leaders say the revised job description for the review board is simply formalizing long-standing policy.
Critics say that the bishops still have not regained the trust of their flocks and warn that they should not try to muzzle the voice of lay Catholics who need a measure of independence in order to be taken seriously.