Review Panel Backs Bishops’ Abuse Policy

OKLAHOMA CITY —  A national review panel waded into a church conflict over disciplining sexually abusive priests Monday, urging religious orders to comply with the discipline policy adopted by America’s Roman Catholic bishops.

Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, chairman of the bishop-appointed National Review Board, said his group will formally ask the Conference of Major Superiors of Men to reverse its August decision to allow most abusers to continue in church work away from parishioners.

U.S. bishops agreed three months ago to remove guilty priests from all church work--from celebrating Mass to working in a Catholic soup kitchen--and in some cases from the priesthood altogether.

The Conference of Major Superiors represents religious orders such as the Franciscans and Dominicans, which make up about a third of the nation’s 46,000 priests. The conference said the bishops’ approach violated Catholic belief in redemption and ignored research indicating that some abusers can be rehabilitated.

But Keating said he and board Vice Chairwoman Anne Burke, an Illinois appellate judge, will write the conference with the “urgent request that they implement precisely the same policy that the bishops approved in Dallas.” Having the orders signed would ensure that there’s a uniform policy for all U.S. priests.

Marita Eddy, a spokeswoman for the Conference of Major Superiors, did not return a message left at her office late Monday.

The review board, made up of 13 prominent lay Catholics, was established as a way to help enforce the reforms that the bishops approved in June to stem the clerical sexual abuse crisis.

The governor said information gathered so far indicates most dioceses are implementing the plan. Still, Keating said the review board will soon reveal the names of bishops who are failing to comply.