Bishops halt vote on combating church sex abuse crisis at Vatican's insistence

BALTIMORE (AP) – At the Vatican's insistence, U.S. Catholic bishops abruptly postponed plans Monday to vote on the issue of clergy.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was told on the eve of the bishop's national meeting to delay action until after a Vatican-convened global meeting on sex abuse in February.

"We are not happy about this," DiNardo told reporters in an unusual public display of frustration at a Vatican pronouncement.

During his # USCCB18 homily, @ArchbishopHebda told their brother bishops that they must show their commitment to change after hearing from survivors of abuse. pic.twitter.com/l87yrVNVNv

– US Catholic Bishops (@USCCB) November 12, 2018

"We are working very hard to move to action – and we'll do it," he said. "I think they have a right to be hopeful."

The bishops are meeting in a different way, including a new code of conduct and the creation of a special commission, including lay experts, to review complaints against the bishops.

The bishops plan to proceed with discussing these proposals, which were drafted in September by the bishops' Administrative Committee. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, of Chicago, suggests the bishops could hold a non-binding vote in the Baltimore and then convenes a special assembly for a formal vote after considering the results of the global meeting in February.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, President of the USCCB, says the entire Catholic Church will confront the sexual abuse crisis together. # USCCB18 pic.twitter.com/l127qGqkMe

– US Catholic Bishops (@USCCB) November 12, 2018

"I realize that another meeting is going to be difficult, but there is a serious delay," said Cupich.

Abuse scandals have roiled the Roman Catholic Church for decades, but there have been major developments in the U.S.

In July, Pope Francis removed U.S. church leader Theodore McCarrick as a cardinal after church investigators said an allegation that he groped a teenage altar boy in the 1970s was credible. McCarrick's Misconduct. McCarrick's Misconduct. McCarrick's Misconduct.

Saint Paul calls them to be: humble, gentle, servants. #SantaMarta

– Pope Francis (@Pontifex) November 12, 2018

In August, a grand jury report in Pennsylvania detailed diary of abuse and cover-up in six dioceses, alleging more than 1,000 children had been abused over the years by about 300 priests. Since then, a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia has been working on a federal criminal case centered on child exploitation, and attorneys general in several other states have launched investigations.

DiNardo, in his address to the bishops' assembly, told survivors of clergy abuse he was "deeply sorry."

"Some would say this is a crisis of the past, it is not," DiNardo said. "We must never be victimized again by demanding they heal on our timeline."

After DiNardo's address, the bishops adjourned to a chapel for a daylong session of prayer that includes remarks by two survivors of clergy abuse who have worked to promote healing and reconciliation among other victims.

Outside the conference hall, news of the delay in voting angered some protesters who have been demanding the bishops take strong action against abuse.

"I know that they answer to the Holy See," said Anne Barrett Doyle, who works at the abuse database BishopAccountability.org. "By complying so meekly with what the pope has asked of them today, they are surrendering their responsibility."

"Delaying taking action in response to the sex scandal is not only a public relations nightmare but a moral failing," McCloskey told The Associated Press.

Her group's proposals for the bishops include cooperating fully with investigations and releasing names of credibly accused clergy, committing to shedding regalia and living simply, and asking Pope Francis to put women in leadership posts.