BALTIMORE (CNS) — Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Nov. 14 he had opened the bishops’ fall general assembly “expressing some disappointment,” but “I end it with hope.”
“We leave this place committed to taking the strongest possible actions at the earliest possible moment,” Cardinal DiNardo told his fellow bishops in Baltimore with remarks closing the public sessions of the Nov. 12-14 meeting.
“We will do so in communion with the universal church. Moving forward in concert with the church around the world will make the church in the United States stronger, and will make the global church stronger.”
The disappointment came when he announced Nov. 12 that the Vatican had requested the bishops delay voting on several proposals to address the sex abuse crisis and hold bishops more accountable for dealing with wayward priests and other church workers accused of sex abuse.
The directive said they needed to be reviewed for conformity to canon law and that action on them needed to wait until after the February Vatican meeting for presidents of bishops’ conferences worldwide to discuss the abuse crisis.
But throughout the assembly, the spotlight was on the widening abuse crisis in the U.S. church and action the U.S. bishops must take to address it. Much of the meeting time was devoted to frank presentations and discussions about abuse.
In an interview with Horizons, Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, of Parma said despite the Vatican request, “the majority of the bishops expressed the opinion that the cases of bishops accused of sexual abuse must be dealt with clearly, so as not to scandalize the faithful anymore. Our example is a priority for the priests and for the faithful.”
Other items on the agenda, including a pastoral letter on racism that was introduced to the body of bishops as an action item Nov. 13 was voted on Nov. 14.
They overwhelmingly approved the document, “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love — A Pastoral Letter Against Racism.” It declares “racist acts are sinful because they violate justice. … They reveal a failure to acknowledge the human dignity of the persons offended, to recognize them as the neighbors Christ calls us to love.”
The bishops also gave unanimous support for the advancement of the canonization cause of Sister Thea Bowman on the diocesan level — the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, headed by Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz.
The bishops approved a budget for 2019, which reflected increased expenses related to the new clergy sex abuse crisis and a downward trend in the USCCB’s Office of Migration and Refugee Service’s budget due to federal cuts in refugee resettlement funds.
They heard reports on September’s V Encuentro, held in Grapevine, Texas, and October’s Synod of Bishops on “Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment.”
Bishop Gregory L. Parkes of St. Petersburg, Florida, was voted treasurer-elect of the USCCB. He will take office for a three-year term next November.
Votes were cast for a new chairman of the Committee on National Collections and chairmen-elect for the committees on Catholic Education; Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations; Divine Worship; Domestic Justice and Human Development; Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth; and Migration.
Among speakers who gave presentations on the abuse crisis and called for action was the chairman of the National Review Board, Francesco Cesareo, president of Assumption College in Massachusetts.
He called for broadening the scope of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” to include bishops. He also urged publishing complete lists of credibly accused clergy in all dioceses; improving the audit process; and enhancing accountability for bishops regarding cases of abuse.
Father David Whitestone, chair of the bishops’ National Advisory Council, said the church is “facing painful times.”
He noted that progress has been made since the bishops adopted the charter, but he stressed that more needs to be done. “We can never become complacent. We must recommit to the ongoing care of all victims in their healing,” Father Whitestone said.
Several bishops said they had been hearing from people in the pews, and that the laity’s questions revolved around how the hierarchy could allow Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick to gain so much influence and rise to the highest ranks of the church hierarchy if they knew of the abuse of which he is accused.
The bishops also heard presentations on proposals for addressing the abuse crisis, so they could discuss them, even though the Vatican had requested they postpone their vote.
The proposals include establishing standards of episcopal accountability; forming a special commission for review of complaints against bishops for violations of the accountability standards; and establishing a protocol regarding restrictions on bishops who were removed or who resigned over claims of sexual misconduct made against them or for grave negligence in office.
The bishops heard from Heather Banis, a trauma psychologist who is victim assistance coordinator for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. She said helping sex abuse victims heal is a journey that involves showing them repeated trustworthiness.
It begins with listening, understanding, offering responses showing that they, the victim-survivors, are believed, she said.
They heard from two victim-survivors, who painfully painted the landscape that has brought the U.S. Catholic Church to the urgent need to address the sex abuse crisis.
Throughout the meeting, outside the hotel, protesters continued to gather to call for change and urge more action by the bishops to address the abuse crisis.
Caption: Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, USCCB vice president, left, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, USCCB president, and Msgr. J. Brian Bransfield, general secretary, take part in morning prayer Nov. 13 on the second day of the fall meeting in Baltimore. (CNS photo/Rick Musacchio, Tennessee Register)
As published in Horizons, Dec. 2, 2018. Sign up for the Horizons e-newsletter.