LUCKY SEVERSON, guest anchor: After nearly a year of scandal, the U.S. Catholic bishops have adopted a new sex abuse policy that's likely to get swift approval from the Vatican. At their annual fall meeting in Washington this week, the bishops approved revisions to the original policy they developed in Dallas last June. The Vatican refused to approve that policy, saying parts of it conflicted with the Church's universal law. Victims' rights groups criticized the latest revisions. But the bishops say the new program will keep molesters away from children and help the Church move forward. Kim Lawton has our full report.KIM LAWTON: The nation's nearly 300 Catholic bishops voted overwhelmingly for the revised plan. They say it's still a "zero-tolerance" policy that protects the due process rights of accused priests, but comes down hard on child abusers.
Bishop WILLIAM LORI (Diocese of Bridgeport): We repeat our pledge to remove permanently from ministry anyone who had admitted or is proved to have abused a minor, even once.
LAWTON: During floor debate, there was renewed discussion about whether there should be exceptions for priests with only one offense in the past, who have now reformed.
Bishop GERALD GETTLEFINGER (Diocese of Evanston): Restore to the bishop flexibility to reinstate a priest who is proven to be converted.LAWTON: That appeal was rejected.
Cardinal THEODORE MCCARRICK (Archdiocese of Washington): Some of us came to Dallas hoping that there might be a possibility of a forgiveness. We lost that in Dallas. We must move forward. We must put an end to this. We can't have Dallas 2 and Dallas 3 and Dallas 4.
LAWTON: Others worried the consequences of the new plan weren't sufficiently considered.
Bishop JAMES MOYNIHAN (Diocese of Syracuse): There was a rush to judgment this time, just like there was a rush to judgment in Dallas.
LAWTON: In the end, the plan sailed through.
Cardinal BERNARD LAW (Archdiocese of Boston): Our work isn't done, but thank God, we are where we are today. We're in a much better place than we were 10 months ago.LAWTON: The details are a compromise worked out with Vatican representatives. Under the new policy, when someone alleges priestly abuse, the bishop will conduct a confidential inquiry, in consultation with a lay review board. If the allegation is found to be credible, the priest will be suspended. Under the Dallas plan, priests were immediately suspended as soon as they were accused. The new policy also imposes a statute of limitations. Victims must come forward by age 28, although bishops can ask the Vatican to waive the deadline for "appropriate pastoral reasons." In Dallas, there was no statute of limitations.
The most controversial provision wasn't even in the Dallas plan. It calls for a system of Church tribunals to determine an accused priest's guilt or innocence. If the confidential Church trial hands down a guilty verdict, the priest can still appeal to the Vatican. A guilty priest may or may not be defrocked, but the bishop has a range of options to keep him from all public ministry. The sex abuse trials will be something new for the Church.Cardinal FRANCIS GEORGE (Archdiocese of Chicago): This is not only necessary for justice to be done and to be seen to be done, it is also good for the Church herself and for victims, to understand that this crime is truly that, and therefore the way to handle it is through a trial.
LAWTON: Many bishops supported the tribunals, even though they have logistical questions.
Bishop THOMAS O'BRIEN (Diocese of Phoenix): We have tribunals in our dioceses, but they are marriage tribunals. So to construct them in a different way, with different issues, is going to be a challenge for us. So we're going to have to work with our canon lawyers at home and across the country to see just how we are going to do this. LAWTON: Victims' rights groups say the trials will be a continuation of the Church's secretive past. And they fear they will not be allowed to present evidence directly to the tribunals, but instead have to depend on Church advocates.
DAVID CLOHESSY (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests): Victims are going to look at that and say, "Why bother? The deck is stacked here. I don't stand a chance."
Mr. ALLEN: As painful as adopting this policy in Washington was, in a way, it's the easiest thing the bishops have to do. What they have to do from here is, number one, convince people the policy is working. And number two, convince people that they meant what they said when they said we're going to turn a corner on the way business is done in the Church. 
But some observers say the bishops' ability to speak on such issues has been compromised by their actions in the scandal.
Bishop WILTON GREGORY (President, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): We have experienced serious fractures between bishops and the faithful, as well as between bishops and priests. We have also witnessed divisions among priests and among the faithful in determining the best way to respond to this tragedy. 
Mr. CLOHESSY: I think it's very naive to think that public pressure alone will produce fundamental, long-lasting reform in an institution that, frankly, is as rigid as the hierarchy of the Church. We all know that public attention is very fleeting and public pressure comes and goes. And no other institution in society relies on that external pressure to keep children safe.
Monsignor LORENZO ALBACETE (Author, GOD AT THE RITZ): Something is wrong, and it should be addressed. Many aspects of the life of the Church, the priestly life itself, how priests live, what the priesthood is, celibacy, for example, all of these reflect experiences in the Church that in some respects have been lost.
