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  Bishops Task Force to Meet with Lawmakers

By Richard N. Ostling
Associated Press, carried in The Guardian [Washington DC]
November 16, 2005

America's Roman Catholic bishops spent half of Tuesday and all Wednesday in unusual private discussions. By policy, even the topics considered were supposed to be secret, but it is certain the sex-abuse scandal was among them.

Patricia Ewers, head of the National Review Board, a lay panel that monitors the church's efforts to prevent sexual abuse, told the bishops about research plans. But some $2 million of the $3 million for a study authorized by the bishops has yet to be raised.

Separately, New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice said it would work Fordham University on research about the "causes and context" underlying the abuse crisis.

Issues to be investigated include the "prominence of young adolescent males among the victims" and seminaries' admission policies, according to John Jay. A Vatican pronouncement on gays in seminaries is expected shortly.

A confidential Oct. 3 memo notified bishops that executive sessions might be used to discuss the review board's work and their efforts to deal with abuse issues.

David Clohessy of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said the meeting is "a very clear and unfortunate sign that secrecy is still standard operating procedure. ... If they can't discuss this openly, it's hard to believe they can deal with it effectively."

Mark E. Chopko, chief lawyer for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in an interview that since 2002, about 2,000 lawsuits have been filed against the church and half are pending, mostly in California.

"We could be at this for years" depending on what happens in federal courts, Chopko said. He cited two main concerns:

-Disputes over the bankruptcy filings by the dioceses of Spokane, Wash., and Portland, Ore., that could "open the door to wholesale restructuring of the dioceses."

-Proposals in several state legislatures to suspend civil statutes of limitations that could invite what Chopko said were "wholesale litigation" against the church by victims.

In 2002, California suspended the normal cutoff for past civil complaints during one year, and 856 new suits resulted. State legislatures could be affected by an impending federal court ruling on the California law.

Acting for the U.S. hierarchy, Chopko filed a brief last June asking the court to throw out California's one-year suspension.

The bishops said California unfairly violated due process of law because it is difficult or impossible to defend against old complaints. They also contended that the law violated constitutional religious liberty by targeting the Catholic Church.

Chopko said the bishops' conference takes no position on whether states should loosen statues of limitation to help victims in future cases, but is only challenging the change in rules after the fact for old allegations.

On bankruptcy, Chopko said abuse cases "have tested the extent to which a religious institution like a church in the middle of endless litigation" can resolve things fairly for both the church and victims.

He thinks that has occurred in Tucson, Ariz., but the Portland and Spokane cases have turned contentious. "Unfortunately, the longer both sides keep at it, the fewer assets there will be to compensate people and the longer for the church to recover."

The Spokane case could produce important precedents.

A ruling in August said parish properties as well as holdings of the diocese itself are available to compensate victims. But the court has not decided whether to force the sale of specific parish assets, as opposed to setting a payout total and letting the diocese decide how to raise the money.

If the court were to "micromanage" sales and interfere with the prerogatives of a bishop, that "would be a church-state problem of the first order," Chopko said.