BALTIMORE (MD)
Associated Press
Nov. 13, 2019
By David Crary and Rgina Garcia Cano.
A new national hotline to report sexual misconduct accusations against Catholic bishops in the U.S. could be operating by the end of February, three months ahead of the deadline set by Pope Francis.
That forecast came Wednesday from Anthony Picarello, general counsel for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as the bishops concluded a three-day national assembly. The early start-up date would require all of the nearly 200 dioceses to be ready; church officials sounded optimistic that would happen.
The closing session also featured a blistering denunciation of the Trump administration’s tough policies for asylum seekers trying to enter the U.S. via Mexico. Anna Marie Gallagher, head of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, assailed the policies as cruel and illegal.
The abuse-reporting hotline, to be operated by a private company, was approved by the bishops in June in response to a new wave of damaging developments in the church’s long-running clergy sex abuse crisis. The bishops had previously established a reporting system covering abusive priests and deacons that did not extend into their own ranks.
Picarello said the committee assigned to develop the new system obtained bids from three companies, and subsequently signed a two-year contract with Convercent, a Denver-based firm which describes itself as expert in the field of corporate ethics and compliance.
The Vatican has set May 31 as the global deadline for new anti-abuse measures that encompass Catholic bishops. However, Picarello said the U.S. reporting system could be operating by the end of February.
Several bishops questioned Picarello about the next steps in the process. He replied that each diocese could decide how to publicize the toll-free number that will be created for people to make reports.
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