UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register
February 8, 2019
By Stephen Beale
A number of U.S. dioceses have already announced new initiatives to deal with the crisis, ahead of this month’s global summit on clerical sexual abuse at the Vatican.
While the hands of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops may have been tied until the Vatican conference on clerical sex abuse later this month, many individual bishops aren’t waiting to usher in sweeping new reforms in their dioceses in the wake of the latest revelations.
“I believe that bishops have sufficient latitude to implement reforms in their dioceses,” Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore told the Register. “As I understand it, canon law affords bishops authority to make certain decisions for the good of the local Churches they serve. In view of the importance of transparency and accountability, it was determined that these additional protocols were warranted and within my authority to implement.”
In mid-January, Archbishop Lori announced a third-party reporting system for accusations of any improprieties, criminal actions or unethical behavior — sex abuse or otherwise — for any bishops actively serving in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
Any allegations will be assessed by an independent review board headed up by two retired judges. The board will also be publishing an annual report on how the archdiocese has dealt with the allegations it has received.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.