Vatican Rejects U.S. Sex Abuse Policy

(CBS)  The Vatican rejected the U.S. Roman Catholic Church's new sexual abuse policy Friday, saying the sweeping zero-tolerance crackdown needed to be revised because elements conflict with universal church law.

While supporting the U.S. bishops' efforts to stamp out clergy abuse of minors, the Vatican said the policy contained provisions that were "difficult to reconcile" with church law, were difficult to interpret and left open procedural questions that needed to be resolved.

"For these reasons it has been judged appropriate that before the 'recognitio' (Vatican approval) can be granted, a further reflection on and revision of the `Norms' and the `Charter' are necessary," the Vatican response said.

The response, signed by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, head of the Congregation of Bishops, proposed the creation of a joint U.S.-Vatican commission to revise the policy.

The U.S. bishops adopted the plan in June in response to enormous pressure that they take a tough stance against abusive clergy and stem the scandal that has shaken many Americans' faith in the church leadership.

American victims' groups took the Vatican response as a sign that the church can't be relied upon to reform itself.

"This is a tragic day for American Catholics," said Barbara Blaine, founder of the Survivors Network For Those Abused By Priests (SNAP), in a written statement. "Without Vatican approval, we're now back at square one. Each bishop can decide for himself how to handle abusive priests.

"Rome's bureaucrats have rejected the weak measures bishops adopted in Dallas and our children are at risk as a result."

Bishop Wilton Gregory, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said nothing in the Dallas guidelines was categorically ruled out by the Vatican, reports CBS News Correspondent Sabina Castelfranco.

Speaking at a news conference in Rome, Gregory said he expected the commission to wrap up its work by next month — in time for a meeting of all U.S. bishops.

But Gregory also said the Vatican response does not compel bishops already implementing the removal of priests 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," he said.

The Vatican letter gave no specifics of the provisions that it found troubling. However, it was clear that certain aspects of the Americans' toughened policy were to blame.

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."

CBS News Correspondent Richard Roth reports another possibly troubling aspect was the requirement that all claims of sexual abuse be reported to the police.

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.

But Boston-area attorney Eric McLeish, who represents more than 200 alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests, told CBS Radio station WBZ-AM Vatican policy violates victims' rights.

"We have laws in this country that are designed to protect children, and until Rome realizes that and realizes that our laws have to have supremacy over canon law, I don't think we are going to get anywhere," he said.

"This is a real setback in terms of bringing peace here in Boston, bringing peace nationally to this subject," he added. "It's going to enrage victims advocates."

The experts have also criticized the broad definition the bishops gave to sexual abuse and the removal of the statute of limitations for claims to be lodged.

By Thursday, it had become clear that the Vatican would withhold formal approval of the policy. But church experts have 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, and it was unclear how American prelates would proceed.

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.