A new sex-abuse policy drafted by US Catholic bishops has been welcomed by priests but criticised by victims' groups who say it will let the church keep accusations secret.
The text, released on Monday, is a revised version of policy guidelines drawn up by the bishops at a historic gathering in Dallas, Texas, in June.
The new policy was formulated by a commission of US and Vatican bishops after Rome expressed misgivings about the Dallas proposals, saying elements conflicted with canon law. The bishops will vote on the changes at a meeting in Washington from November 11th to 14th before submitting the new text to the Vatican for final approval.
The bishops did not alter one of the most strict guidelines laid down at Dallas, that any priest who committed "even a single act of sexual abuse" will be removed permanently from the ministry.
However, under the new policy, accused priests will be presumed innocent and brought before church tribunals consisting of priests familiar with canon law before a decision on disbarment is made. The tribunals will be held in private and the accusers probably not invited to give evidence, being represented instead by a priest.
The new policy will also allow an accused priest to continue in the ministry while a preliminary investigation is made. In Dallas the bishops had ruled that a priest should be removed once a "credible allegation" was made.
Many priests had been unhappy with the Dallas policy, which they believed gave bishops too much power to suspend clergy without due process. Father Robert Silva, president of the 27,000-member National Federation of Priests' Councils, described the new guidelines as "a good, strong and, I think, effective policy that protects our children but also is clear about due process and rights" for accused priests. The revised text was greeted with dismay by Ms Susan Archibald, president of a victims' group called The Linkup, who said the revisions allowed a return to the kind of secrecy that "perpetuated and fostered the abuse".
David Clohessy, director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the revision would prevent congregations from learning about allegations against priests and "enable abusive priests to remain in ministry, and unidentified, longer."
Bishop Thomas Doran, of Rockford, Illinois, who along with three other US bishops was in Rome last week for consultations with Vatican officials, told the New York Times: "I think there's tremendous relief that the Holy See was emphatic and indeed sympathetic to the goal of the bishops in Dallas, which was the protection of children and young people."