KIM LAWTON: The nation's Roman Catholic bishops pledged a renewed commitment to unity, even as they debated a host of issues confronting their church. One of the most difficult issues remains the ongoing fallout from the priestly sex abuse crisis.
Cardinal FRANCIS GEORGE (Archdiocese of Chicago): The damage to victims is permanent and therefore, the crisis is permanent. We have to keep attending to it.LAWTON: The bishops approved a new round of audits on how well the local dioceses are implementing the mandatory policy they adopted two years ago to prevent the sexual abuse of minors. Behind closed doors, they debated possible revisions of that policy, which comes up for review next year.
The bishops also elected a new president: Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane. Skylstad was vice president under Bishop Wilton Gregory, who has just completed his three-year term as head of the conference. Cardinal Francis George was voted the new vice president.
Skylstad announced last week that his diocese intends to file for bankruptcy because it cannot afford to pay settlements in abuse-related lawsuits. His election was criticized by victims' rights groups.David Clohessy directs the Survivors' Network of Those Abused by Priests.
DAVID CLOHESSY (Director, Survivors' Network of Those Abused by Priests): We believe that fundamentally, bankruptcy by bishops is simply a way to hide the truth and to delay healing.
Bishop WILLIAM SKYLSTAD (Diocese of Spokane): My first priority and attention has to be the Diocese of Spokane. Yet by the same token, I strongly believe that the bishop is responsible for the larger church as well. Fortunately, the Diocese of Spokane is a relatively small diocese.
Cardinal GEORGE: You know, a lot of moral credibility has been lost, so that if you talk about anything else, they immediately say, "Well, how can you talk about that?" -- when in fact, you're trying to deal with the lack of protection of children and the inappropriate protection of priests by some bishops, particularly in the past.
