Church in
Crisis
Text of letter calling for joint commission on abuse
norms
The following excerpts are from an Oct. 14 letter of Cardinal
Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Bishops, to
Belleville, Ill., Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops, on the establishment of a joint Vatican-U.S.
bishops’ commission on sex abuse norms:
The Apostolic See acknowledges the efforts which the bishops of
the United States have made through the norms and the guidelines contained in
the bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young
People” to protect minors and to avoid future recurrences of abuses. Such
efforts should also help to preserve or restore the trust of the faithful in
their pastors.
Despite the efforts, the application of the policies adopted at
the plenary assembly in Dallas 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 at 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 and the motu proprio -- [a papal
document originating from the pope’s own office] Sacramentorum
Sanctitatis Tutela “Defense of the Most Holy
Sacraments.”
For these reasons, it has been judged appropriate that before the
recognitio can be granted, a further reflection on and revision of the
norms and the charter are necessary. In order to facilitate this work, the Holy
See proposes that a mixed commission be established, composed of four bishops
chosen from the episcopal conference of the United States and four
representatives from those dicasteries of the Holy See which have direct
competence in the matter: the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the
Congregation for Bishops, the Congregation for Clergy and the Pontifical
Council for Legislative Texts.
National Catholic Reporter, November 01,
2002
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