Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
U.S. Bishops’ meeting takes up range of issues WASHINGTON (CNS) — Members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opened their fall general meeting in Washington Nov. 10 and 11 by hearing a challenge from their president to direct “the energy of the whole church” to the eradication of sexual abuse and the healing of its victims. Shortly after Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., made that call, the bishops approved the addition of one full-time and two part-time staff members in their Office for Child and Youth Protection at a cost of more than $265,000 through 2005. Failure to approve the new posts “would look like our institutional memory has been lost,” said Coadjutor Bishop Joseph A. Galante of Dallas. Documents on same-sex unions, agriculture, popular devotions, socially responsible investment, stewardship, conflict-of-interest policy and several liturgical matters received preliminary discussion Nov. 10 and 11 but were to be voted on later in the meeting. The first two days of the meeting also had an international flavor, with reports from the president of the Vietnamese bishops’ conference, a former Vatican justice and peace official, and from African bishops seeking renewed attention to the plight of their continent. Coadjutor Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Ireland, former Vatican representative at U.N. agencies that are based in Geneva and former secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, spoke on issues of war and peace 40 years after the encyclical “Pacem in Terris.” He said international cooperation and gathering accurate intelligence about terrorist groups are preferable to war in combating terrorism. The bishops voted Nov. 11 to change their agenda to add time for debate and a vote on a draft statement, “Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers About Marriage and Same-Sex Unions.” The 2,000-word draft says marriage between a man and a woman is God’s plan, seen in nature and in divine revelation. Bishop Ronald M. Gilmore of Dodge City, Kan., chairman of the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Agriculture Issues, introduced the agriculture document by saying that “men and women are impaled on the jagged edges of this (farming) system.” He said the document, developed and written over the past four years, was not
(CNS PHOTO BY BOB ROLLER)
By Catholic News Service
Bishops process in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington Nov. 10 during an evening Mass on the first day of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' fall general meeting in Washington.
U.S. BISHOPS’ MEETING, page 7
By Jerry Filteau Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — Major national studies on the crisis of clergy sexual abuse of minors and the U.S. bishops’ response to it will be released next January and February. Justice Anne Burke, interim chair of the National Review Board monitoring diocesan compliance with the bishops’ program to protect children and respond to clergy sexual abuse, told the U.S. bishops that the board plans to release two major studies Feb. 27 at a press conference in Washington. They are the national study on the extent of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and deacons since 1950 by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and the board’s consensus report on interviews with bishops, priests-abusers, victims and a wide array of profes-
sionals regarding the “causes and context” of the abuse crisis, she said. Burke, a justice of the Appellate Court of Illinois, has headed the all-lay National Review Board since the resignation last June of its chairman, former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating. William Burleigh, a review board member and veteran communications professional with the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain, told the bishops that nearly two months before the release of the two studies the board intends to release on Jan. 6 the first annual audit of dioceses. The audit will measure diocesan compliance or failure to comply with the mandates of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” The charter, adopted by the bishops in June 2002, established the review board and the policies and procedures all dioceses must ABUSE RESPONSE PLANS, page 7
(CNS PHOTO BY DAVID V. KAMBA, CATHOLIC NEW WORLD)
Bishops told of national sex abuse response plans
Illinois Appellate Court Justice Anne M. Burke
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION State Supreme Court . . . . . . 3 Interfaith health fair . . . . . . 6 Greeley on “DaVinci Code” . 8 Special Section: Women Religious Jubilarians . . . 10-20
News in brief ~ Pages 4-5 ~ November 14, 2003
Chinese Evangelization Concert ~ Page 24 ~ FIFTY CENTS
Movie Review . . . . . . . . . . 22
www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 5
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No. 37