Religion Today Summaries

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Friday, April 26, 2002

** Cardinals Develop Five Point Plan, ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy

The summit in Rome has ended, and American cardinals are returning home with a new zero tolerance policy towards pedophile priests. U.S. bishops will determine at their June meeting what action to take with priests who have been accused of sexual abuse in the past, according to reports from AP, UPI and CNS.

During the two-day meeting with Pope John Paul II, U.S. Catholic leaders wrestled with how the church should deal with the current sex scandal. After the summit ended yesterday, a spokesman outlined a five-stage plan for dealing with future sex abuse cases. The first stage was support for the victims; the next involved putting an accused priest on administrative leave. The case would be then reported to civil authorities, and the priest would receive therapy before appearing before a board of inquiry consisting of clerics and lay people.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., said at a press conference there was “probably the beginning of a real consensus” in the U.S. hierarchy in favor of defrocking priests who abused minors

Pope John Paul re-emphasized there was no place in the priesthood for those who would endanger children. But he also expressed concern about giving bishops too much authority to remove priests, “fearing it would be misused and recalling his own life under communist rule in Poland,” according to AP.

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