Inquiry Leader Insists Bishops Are Not Above 'Corrective Action'

OKLAHOMA CITY, June 22 -- At their national meeting this month, America's Roman Catholic bishops adopted procedures for stripping sexually abusive priests of their collars while leaving in doubt how bishops who have covered up those crimes might ever be punished.

But Gov. Frank Keating of Oklahoma, who has been named to oversee a national, church-sponsored inquiry into the origins of the crisis, said in an interview here that he and a panel of prominent Catholics will seek "corrective action" for any clergyman found to be abusive or negligent, "from the most junior priest to the most powerful bishop."

"We have to participate in the restoration of faith to the faithful, and you can't do that by suggesting there is some person in this mix who is above corrective action," Mr. Keating said.

The emerging consensus for tough action against errant bishops suggests that the American church, mired in its worst crisis, may be heading toward institutional upheaval unlike any it has known. Bishops, by canon law, answer only to the pope, and American prosecutors have traditionally been loath to investigate the Catholic hierarchy, partly because of the constitutional separation of church and state. Furthermore, the prelates under fire for protecting child abusers, including Cardinals Bernard F. Law of Boston and Edward M. Egan of New York, have powerful friends in Rome and could turn any challenge into an unprecedented ecclesiastical showdown.

But Mr. Keating, likening the church's extraordinary crisis to the period of moral erosion that preceded the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, said his panel, with the backing of Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, of Belleville, Ill., the president of the the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, intended to arouse the moral indignation of the Catholic faithful. "The church needs a real thorough scrubbing," he said. "You will not see faint-heartedness in this process."

At the close of the bishops meeting in Dallas on June 14, Bishop Gregory named Mr. Keating to lead the panel, known as the national review board, along with two eminent Catholics to help him assemble a broader group: Robert Bennett, President Clinton's former defense lawyer, and Justice Anne Burke of the Illinois Appeals Court. Last week, Bishop Gregory named a fourth panel member, Michael Bland, a Chicago psychologist who left the priesthood after his abuse by an older clergyman.

Friday's interview with Mr. Keating in his office here came hours after the first encounter among the four core members of what is expected to become an 11-member panel. In an interview late Friday, Mr. Bennett agreed that the four had reached a consensus on the need for an unflinching review of the clerical hierarchy.

"We'll look at the conduct not only of priests but of bishops," Mr. Bennett said. "If you're going to protect children, you cannot start parsing who is covered or not covered. How the bishops have dealt with these issues is very much part of our mandate."

Mr. Keating, 58, who is serving the final months of his two-term governorship, is a law-and-order Republican and a former F.B.I. agent and associate attorney general. A Catholic, he has nonetheless clashed with Oklahoma's two bishops over his support of the death penalty, which the prelates have criticized.

As a chauffeur drove him to tape a television talk show on the church crisis, Mr. Keating described in a cellphone interview with The Sooner Catholic, an Oklahoma newspaper, how Bishop Gregory phoned on June 8 to ask him to head the national board.

"I'm a very independent person," Mr. Keating said he told Bishop Gregory. "You may not like what you get."

Mr. Keating's appointment to head the review board was the final touch to the package of overhaul measures announced at the close of the Dallas meeting, which included enactment of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The charter outlines mandatory rules permanently barring any priest who has abused a minor from performing ministerial duties, and orders each of the country's 194 dioceses to establish committees made up mostly of lay Catholics independent of the bishop to review priests' fitness for ministry and the diocese's handling of sex abuse issues. The charter, however, made no mention of how bishops who have protected abusive priests might be sanctioned, which Mr. Keating lamented.

"The document in Dallas was silent as to prelate involvement and responsibility," he said. "I regret that."

Nonetheless, Mr. Keating cited language in the charter that he said empowers his panel to hold the bishops accountable. The charter calls for an Office for Child and Youth Protection with a professional staff at the headquarters of the conference in Washington, which will work under the oversight of Keating's review board. Together, that office and the review board are to produce an annual report on how effectively the nation's 194 dioceses have worked to protect children from abuse by clergymen. During the interview, Mr. Keating read aloud from a June 18 letter to him in which Bishop Gregory said the annual report should "make recommendations regarding actions for each diocese."

"So if a particular diocese is corruptly indifferent to addressing criminal action by priests and or cover-ups by bishops, this task tells us to recommend actions against abusive priests, or actions for removal or discipline of negligent, indifferent, or criminally sanctionable bishops," Mr. Keating said.

Several prominent Catholics noted that Mr. Keating's panel lacks formal power to sanction bishops but could likely muster enormous support among American Catholics. Mr. Keating acknowledged his panel's limitations, but said "this is a challenge that requires toughness and a remorseless focus on what is right."

"For us to get up on the mountaintop and shout into the darkness the need for corrective action against a clearly indifferent, negligent or corrupt bishop, we'll be heard by someone."

Last week, Bishop Gregory named a fourth panel member, Michael Bland, a Chicago psychologist who left the priesthood after his abuse by an older clergyman.

This rather surprised me -- maybe Gregory is more serious than I thought.

Thanks for the post and the ping.

"I'm a very independent person," Mr. Keating said he told Bishop Gregory. "You may not like what you get."

"No, that's what we want," Bishop Gregory replied, Mr. Keating said.

This sounds pretty serious as well. It is possible that Bishop Gregory and some of the other Bishops realize their limitations. It is hard to censure or rebuke someone within your own rank, or of a higher rank, and evidently beyond the scope of most Bishops to do so.

It is hard to censure or rebuke someone within your own rank, or of a higher rank, and evidently beyond the scope of most Bishops to do so.

Excellent point! In this way, the recommendations will come from an independent outsider. My concerns, however, are twofold:

1. An independent group will take a pc position, thus avoiding any mention of the homosexual sub-culture in the church.

2. While justice for criminal acts must be rendered by civil authorities, the catholic church in america is placing itself at great risk of future government intervention in religious affairs. We have seen too many legal precedents set, of late, in this country. With a growing number of socialists in US government, given the opportunity to intervene in church affairs, must have them chomping at the bit.

You are right. That is why I love FR - so many points of view offered by others who are much less willing to accept the superficial (like I do most of the time!).

Watch and listen, I guess. A very fine line, as you point out.

Good points! As far as rooting out the homosexual subculture, though, there's probably not much this group could do. Homosexuality is not illegal, while child molesting is (at the moment, at least). And in many ways, it is the responsibility of the bishops to deal with the homosexuals. There are, after all, canons that say they should not be ordained; it's not necessary to make any new Church laws about this, but just to enforce what's already there. And then go on and kick out the ones who are already ordained, which is something only the bishops can do, alas.

I think your point about government intervention is good, and this is something we have to watch very carefully. The talk of invoking RICO statutes, etc., could be very dangerous for legitimate church activities

Well, I think Gregory's looking for the takedown of Cardinal Law. That way, he could say that a bishop can be held accountable. Don't think he's really looking for the takedown of the 2/3 of the bishops who are child molestor shufflers. Like all politicians, Gregory is doing just enough to make it appear he's doing a lot.

An independent group will take a pc position, thus avoiding any mention of the homosexual sub-culture in the church.

They will never have the courage to address this issue. And as a result, your teenage sons will never be safe in the Catholic Church.

Bishops and Cardinals are not above censure by the Holy See.

Ah, but I wonder how the stuffy Curial Cardinals will take to a group of laymen recommending that a bishop be censured, much less suggesting his removal.

This is another area where Rome is going to balk, big time. If the bishops and this committee are seen as trying to tackle the abuse problem, but are stymied by the Vatican, it won't be long before the Vatican becomes the problem.

I wonder how the stuffy Curial Cardinals will take to a group of laymen recommending that a bishop be censured, much less suggesting his removal.

Definitely a point that I thought about as I posted my short little 'censure' post.

Might be very interesting..................politics in the church? LOL! </sarcasm off

At the close of the bishops meeting in Dallas on June 14, Bishop Gregory named Mr. Keating to lead the panel, known as the national review board, along with two eminent Catholics to help him assemble a broader group: Robert Bennett, President Clinton's former defense lawyer, and Justice Anne Burke of the Illinois Appeals Court.

Robert Bennett is an eminent Catholic???? Maybe they mean Bill. (I wasn't aware that Robert Bennett was religious, ethical, or had moral values.)

Don't be too quick to discount Keating's bunch.

If this plays out the way it SHOULD, a great number of problem Bishops will resign and/or be roasted by the public.

You may translate 'problem' as 'complicit homosexual.'

In the case of Law, it is my opinion that he was gravely dis-served by his staff (likely complicit homosexuals) and simply AND IGNORANTLY signed off on a bunch of paperwork already prepared (think of Radar and the Colonel.)

Bet you that NO solid Bishop will EVER 'sign off' on ANYTHING again...

The vatican's reaction will be the MOST interesting part of all this.

If the Canon Law issues are clearcut and well-explained, (assuming due process, etc., etc.) I think the Pope has the authority to basically FIRE the turkeys, if necessary.

I thought it was the Bennett that was Education Secretary.

That was Bill, who also wrote The Book of Virtues. His brother Bob, a partner in the Washington, DC office of Skadden, Arps (cutthroat even for a law firm), represented Clinton in part of the Monica mess.

Like all politicians, Gregory is doing just enough to make it appear he's doing a lot.

I never doubted that for a minute. But I think he's finding he's going to have to more than he wanted to. Which is why, as I posted to the line Last week, Bishop Gregory named a fourth panel member, Michael Bland, a Chicago psychologist who left the priesthood after his abuse by an older clergyman, I was surprised by the appointment of someone with direct experience of the homosexual clergy/seminary (underreported) scandal. Presumably, if Bland left the priesthood because of molestation, he was well over the age of 8 or 10 or 16 when he was molested.

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