UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register

COMMENTARY

by BISHOP JAMES CONLEY 09/11/2015

The Catholic Church is a supernatural community, united together in Christ Jesus, protected and sustained by the Holy Spirit. But the Church is also a community of human beings, of ordinary people, who are capable of great love, and of great sinfulness.

Sin — especially the most grave sins — can have profoundly hurtful consequences for other people, and for the community of the Church. The laws and policies of the Church help to ensure safety and freedom, particularly for children, and for those most vulnerable to being harmed.

Since they were passed in 2002 by the Catholic Bishops of the United States and approved by the Holy See, the Diocese of Lincoln has followed a set of Church laws called the “Essential Norms for Diocesan/Eparchial Policies Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or…