He also was asked if the Vatican's
response would compel bishops already implementing the procedures to
stop. "Will they stop? No. And the mixed commission has not asked
the bishops to stop pursuing the charter," Gregory said.
"It simply says let us sit down and talk together about issues
that need to be clarified or modified so that `recognitio' can be
granted to the norms," Gregory added.
The Vatican letter gave no specifics of the provisions that it
found troubling. Gregory though said they covered issues such as the
policy's broad definition of sexual abuse, the procedures to deal
with abusive priests, and the role of lay review boards.
Among other things, the U.S. policy requires dioceses to remove
priests from church work once a "credible" allegation is made and,
in some instances, from the priesthood itself.
The policy essentially rules out the possibility that a priest
can be rehabilitated, saying an offender will be relieved of his
ministry for "even a single act of sexual abuse of a minor — past,
present or future."
Ever since it was adopted, Vatican officials and American church
law experts have said the norms might violate church law because
they would deprive accused priests of their due process rights.
One of the Vatican cardinals who reviewed the policy stressed the
special relationship between bishops and their priests in explaining
the Vatican response.
"The trust of the priest-son in the bishop cannot pass through
outside conditioning such as the laws of a state wherever it might
be," said Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, who heads the Vatican's
Congregation for the Clergy.
Speaking at a news conference unrelated to the U.S. proposals,
the cardinal gave an insight into the Vatican's thinking on how to
work things out: "Formulas have to be found which on the one hand
are a strong and clear answer to such a serious crime — one of the
most serious crimes — but at the same time do not go against the
fundamental principles of the Church."
"A law cannot cancel 30-40 years of an honest life," he said.
By Thursday, it had become clear that the Vatican would withhold
formal approval of the policy. But Church experts had said they
thought the Vatican would at least allow the bishops to implement
the policy with caution.
A senior Vatican official had said last month that the Americans
would be allowed to go ahead on an experimental basis, despite the
misgivings. This was not addressed in the Vatican response, but
Gregory said he didn't see it as a mandate to freeze implementation
of the norms now.
Most American diocese have already begun implementing the
procedures.
A senior Vatican official said Friday that it was clear that
those norms that conflict with church law regarding the due process
rights of priests "must be dropped."
In its response, the Vatican said it fully supported the bishops'
efforts to "respond firmly" to the scandal and acknowledged their
attempt to protect minors and restore the trust of the faithful in
the Church.
However, it said the application of the procedures "can be the
source of confusion and ambiguity because the 'Norms' and 'Charter'
contain provisions which in some aspects are difficult to reconcile
with the universal law of the Church."
"Moreover, the experience of the last few months has shown that
the terminology of these documents is as times vague or imprecise
and therefore difficult to interpret."
"Questions also remain concerning the concrete manner in which
the procedures outlined in the 'Norms' and 'Charter' are to be
applied in conjunction with the requirements of the Code of Canon
Law," the response continued.
At least 300 of the 46,000 priests in the United States have been
removed from their ministries since the church scandal erupted in
January with the case of a priest in Boston who was reassigned even
after allegations of molestation reached his superiors.
Since then, waves of accusations have poured in, and many reports
have alleged that church leaders tried to cover up wrongdoing by
moving known offenders from parish to parish.
Victims' groups in the United States were outraged with the
Vatican response.
Mike Emerton, a spokesman for the lay reform movement Voice of
the Faithful, which claims 25,000 members, questioned why more
discussions were needed since the Vatican had four months to review
the bishops' policy.
"It gives the bishops the ability to pick and choose only those
portions they feel they would like to implement within their own
dioceses This is not something we were looking for," Emerton said.
Yet Russell Shaw, a former spokesman for the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Knights of Columbus, urged
American Catholics to recognize the difficulties of implementing a
plan that was fair to both victims and clergy.
"This is not the end of the game," Shaw said.
