Vatican Cancels US Bishops’ Vote on Sex-Abuse Reform Measures

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BALTIMORE — Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, has told the American bishops that they will not vote on two key proposals that had been expected to form the basis for the Church’s response to the sexual-abuse crisis.
The news came at the beginning of the U.S. bishops’ conference fall general assembly, meeting in Baltimore Nov. 12-14.

The instruction to delay consideration of a new “Code of Conduct” for bishops and the creation of a lay-led body to investigate bishops accused of misconduct came directly from the Holy See, Cardinal DiNardo told a visibly surprised conference hall.
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http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/vatican-cancels-us-bishops-vote-on-sex-abuse-reform-measures
 
I don’t get it. On the one hand, Pope Francis, since day one of his pontificate, has emphasized the need for renewed synodality and collegiality in the Church… yet in practice he seems to have no issues routinely flexing the muscles of papal primacy to override local decisions.
Not saying this was the wrong move - I don’t have a definitive opinion - just an observation.
 
I certainly hope they’ll be given the reasoning for this decision.
 
angel12 said:
I certainly hope they’ll be given the reasoning for this decision.
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According to the article, they’ve delayed measures until February, which is when Pope Francis wanted to hold a special meeting with the worlds leading bishops.

And apparently Cdl DiNardo wasn’t made aware of this until late yesterday.

It’s situations like this that are constantly making any effort on the part of the clergy to be sincere about addressing this crisis, seem empty and fruitless.
 
Incredible insult to US Catholics. Suggests there is no urgency to these massive, global problems. So, why did the Vatican waste the Bishops’ time even going to Baltimore? What are the bishops going to do there when they were supposed to be working on this?

Are we supposed to wait and HOPE that the February meeting addresses these issues?

What a STUNT by the Vatican.
 
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When I saw the headline, I too was disturbed, but now I think it is ok, probably even wise. This needs to get done right. The vote in November has been cancelled, but the Pope only wanted it delayed. This is not just a US problem, it exists throughout the world. So making sure the US solution is inline with what the Vatican decides in February seems wise to me. Even Cardinal Cupich had a valid suggestion, that a resolution ballot be conducted in November so that Cardinal DiNardo has the US Bishop’s recommendation in hand when he attends the February meeting in the Vatican with his peers from around the world.

We have to be patient. Unfortunately that is very hard, but for now it is for the best.
 
patient? __do we have any choice? __

yes, of course, MEETINGS are going to solve this no-brainer problem. yes, and DELAYS are going to play a big part too. Now, we’re talking about next March or June for these criminals to fess up to their crimes.
 
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I am willing to give the Vatican the benefit of the doubt, but it was very imprudent to not notify the bishops sooner.
 
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I think that this is reasonable, albeit way too short notice, as long as it doesn’t affect any McCarrick investigation.
 
Reported by ThecWashington Post:
“There may be a temptation on the part of some to relinquish responsibility for reform to others from ourselves, as if we were no longer capable of reforming or trusting ourselves,” Archbishop Christophe Pierre, a French bishop who was sent by Pope Francis to Washington from France in 2016, said. “Assistance is both welcome and necessary, and surely collaboration with the laity is essential. However, the responsibility as bishops of this Catholic Church is ours.”

My children all went to parochial school K-8, and to my knowledge there were no instances of abuse. I must say though that based on the recently revealed reports, the clergy has been challenged beyond their ability to discipline themselves.

If I’d ever had any indication that one of my children had been subjected to sexual abuse, I would first have filed a Suspected Child Abuse Report with Child Protectuve Sevices because it is my resposibikty as a parent to protect my children. As a parent I would never abdicate that responsibility to anyone - not the Bishops; not the Pope.

So in my humble opinion, the Church can continue to prevaricate. Parents don’t need to collaborate with the clergy because it is the duty first of parents to protect their children and to see that sexual predators NEVER have access to them. Frankly, we don’t need the Bishops to remove anyone who preys on children because parents have the power to remove predators after the first offense and to make it so they never work with children again - at least in CA. I don’t know about other states.
 
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I, too, felt disappointment at first. I can see that it makes sense to wait for the February meeting. It is difficult to be patient as we want things to be corrected right now. It was also on NBC Nightly News -
 
HCTC said:
So in my humble opinion, the Church can continue to prevaricate. Parents don’t need to collaborate with the clergy because it is the duty first of parents to protect their children and to see that sexual predators NEVER have access to them. Frankly, we don’t need the Bishops to remove people who prey on children - and we can remove predictors after the first offense
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Regarding abuse of minors, this has mostly been done since 2002, as the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report confirms (despite media coverage), in this country. It’s not so clear elsewhere in the world. And the problem of abuse of seminarians remains, and apprears to be a worldwide problem. And has been shown to have been covered up by bishops. What has come to light virtually guantees the existence of a “Lavender Mafia” among the heirarchy. This must be addressed, and I think it best to start from the top.
 
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HCTC said:
There may be a temptation on the part of some to relinquish responsibility for reform to others from ourselves, as if we were no longer capable of reforming or trusting ourselves,” Archbishop Christophe Pierre, a French bishop who was sent by Pope Francis to Washington from France in 2016, said. “Assistance is both welcome and necessary, and surely collaboration with the laity is essential. However, the responsibility as bishops of this Catholic Church is ours.”
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First of all, the bishops relinquished responsibility for decades, and secondly, I seriously doubt the responsibility can be in the hands of the bishops, because at best, they have divided loyalties. They have to be loyal to their priest who turns out to be a predator, but whom the bishop knows personally and has some responsibility towards, and then there is the victim, whom the bishop may not know at all, and then there is the stature of the diocese in the community and the bishop’s own reputation.

What we have seen is that the bishops can’t handle the responsibility and that is why we have attorneys general from all over going after the dioceses.
 
HCTC said:
If I’d ever had any indication that one of my children had been subjected to sexual abuse, I would first have filed a Suspected Child Abuse Report with Child Protectuve Sevices because it is my resposibility as a parent to protect my children. As a parent I would never abdicate that responsibility to anyone - not the Bishops; not the Pope.
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Totally agree with you.
Report,report,report to the corresponding authorities. Period.
Whatever is decided as from the Church to improve, modify,or whatever it takes to do away with the scourge of abuse,that is one thing. And if it takes longer to be assertive and efficient,it is independent from our parents’ or even citizen duty to report it. On the spot.
And this is what we have been reminded to do as well.
Cannot agree more. It is through reporting that abusers can be stopped,no matter where they are found . And it must difficult to put a child or a teen or oneself through the process when reporting, but it will prevent others from falling prey.
 
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I am very disappointed in this decision.
 
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So the sacrament of Communion is something to be dealt with at the bishops’ level but taking action on abuse must be centralized?
 
It’s one thing for the Vatican to ask the US bishops to hold out until the February summit… but it seems like the height of disrespect to wait until the day before to convey this instruction…
 
That’s kind of where I’m at, too. Pope Francis has set a time for bishops of the entire world to discuss this issue. It makes little sense for the U.S. Bishops to do something that will just have to be changed in February. Or else maybe the Vatican does not want the U.S. to dominate the direction of February’s meeting by already having everything mapped out for the U.S. and then assuming the rest of the world can just follow suit.

The Dallas Charter is still in effect. So it’s not as though there aren’t already measures in place.

I can understand the bishops being more than a little miffed about the last minute notification, though. It seems like there was a broken link in the chain of communication.
 
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