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	On Group's Wish List to Cardinal: Database of Pedophile Priests By Stacy St. Clair Chicago Daily Herald [Chicago IL] June 15, 2007 http://www.dailyherald.com/news/illinoisstory.asp?id=323248 As U.S. Catholic bishops prepare to gather in New Mexico next week, local lay people are imploring Cardinal Francis George to use the meeting to re-examine the church's policy on handling sex abuse cases. Chicagoland Voices of the Faithful has asked George to create a national database of pedophile priests, among other things. The database would include all church personnel with credible accusations against them and offer the dates and places of their service, as well as their current whereabouts. In letters sent to the cardinal this week, the group also encouraged him to support a law that would briefly relax the statute of limitations on civil lawsuits involving allegation of long-ago abuse. "We recognize that child sexual abuse is not only a problem within the Catholic Church but infects all of society," the letters say. "We appeal to you to be proactive leaders to effectively address this problem within our own Church, and to work cooperatively with legislators and other citizens to eliminate this scourge in society as a whole." The Archdiocese of Chicago and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops did not return calls seeking comment Thursday. The Chicago archdiocese currently has a Web site that allows visitors to submit an inquiry about a specific Church employee. The request must include the clergy member's name, as well as the inquirer's name, complete address and reason for the query. Critics say they want the process to be more open so more victims might come forward and other pedophiles possibly be exposed. "We're not looking to change church doctrine," Voices of the Faithful spokeswoman Dale Duda said. "We're asking for more transparency from the bishops." The cardinal leaves for the conference Sunday and is expected to return June 23. But it's unclear whether the church's top U.S. officials will discuss sex abuse at the conference. Â The bishops' annual spring meeting is slated as a private prayer retreat with no public events. The prelate, which holds closed-door sessions every few years, will have its next open meeting in November. The Chicago Archdiocese, which oversees the 2.4 million Catholics in Cook and Lake counties, has been rocked in recent years by civil and criminal cases against clergy members. In October 2006, an independent auditor ruled the cardinal and his staff were in compliance with the church's national standards for the reporting and handling of abuse cases. Though the priest scandal has faded from the front pages in recent years, Voices of the Faithful -- made up of lay people who want to change the church instead of leave it -- say they won't let the matter rest until Catholic officials are more forthcoming about their administrative and financial practices. "We want to keep reminding our bishops that this is far from over," Duda said. "We're trying to address the root causes of the problem, and the only way to do that is to have more transparency." Stacy St. Clair: sstclair@dailyherald.com
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