SPOKANE (WA)
KXLY
Travis Mayfield
Last updated: Thursday, March 09th, 2006 10:46:50 PM
SPOKANE -- One day after the Spokane Catholic Diocese revealed Bishop William Skylstad has been accused of sexual abuse of a minor, questions mount about his effectiveness as a leader.
News4 has learned that only the Vatican can remove a Bishop from his ministry. Diocese attorneys say a national policy adopted in the U-S dealing with abuse claims says the priest should not be removed from office without sufficient evidence.
In this case, the claim is being kept secret by the court but attorneys for the accuser confirmed to News4 it is a woman living in Europe now who claims to have been abused by Skylstad in the early 1960's while at St. Patricks and Gonzaga.