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"Some bishops, by their actions or failures to act, have caused great harm to individuals and the church as a whole," said the administrative committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in a statement.
"They used their authority and power to sexually manipulate and abuse others, allowing the fear of scandal to replace genuine concerns and care for those who have been abused."
But in recent weeks, most news about the Catholic Church has been far from good.
"It is a moment of deep reflection of conscience for every bishop," said the administrative committee of bishops Wednesday. "We can not be satisfied that our response to sexual abuse in the Church has been sufficient."
The Administrative Committee of the Conference of Bishops is made up of about 25 to 30 members, including the President and senior officials, presidents of Bishops' committees and regional representatives. As a general rule, the committee sets the agenda for biannual meetings of bishops, during which the new policies are debated and voted on.
McCarrick is the only American archbishop cited in the statement. The committee said it "supported a thorough investigation of the situation" around him, "including his alleged assaults on minors, priests and seminarians, as well as other issues regarding the current crisis. ".
McCarrick denied this accusation about the minor and appealed his dismissal to the Vatican. He did not respond to the allegations concerning the seminarian.
In particular, the declaration of the bishops does not mention the possibility of an investigation by the Vatican on McCarrick, that DiNardo had declared that he would ask Pope Francis. A Vatican spokesperson did not respond to CNN's requests for information.
Even without the approval of the pope, American bishops can take several steps on their own. On Wednesday, they announced that they had:
1. Approved a "third party reporting system" to receive confidential complaints of sexual abuse of minors by a bishop and sexual harassment or sexual misconduct with adults by a bishop, and will direct these complaints to the civil authorities and the "appropriate" church authorities. These authorities are not named in the declaration.
2. Ordered a committee at the Bishops' Conference to develop policy proposals "for the restrictions imposed on bishops who were removed from office because of allegations of sexual abuse of minors or harassment sexual or adult, including seminarians and priests ".
3. started developing a "code of conduct" for bishops regarding the sexual abuse committed by a bishop on a minor; sexual harassment or misconduct with an adult by a bishop; or "negligence of a bishop in the performance of his duties in connection with such cases".
4. agreed to support a thorough investigation of McCarrick, with the help of lay experts in relevant areas, such as law enforcement and social services.
"This is just the beginning: consulting a wide range of parents, experts and other lay people with the clergy and religious will bring additional specific measures to repair the scandal and restore justice", said the bishops in their statement. .
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