Race, sexual abuse of children top U.S. bishops' agenda in St. Louis
Protecting children and removing abusers from the Catholic Church should
be among the top priorities of a national assembly of 250 Catholic
bishops meeting in St. Louis, a church leader told the bishops on
Wednesday. Francesco Cesareo, the chair of the national review lay board, called on
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to improve its annual audit of
U.S. dioceses' work on protecting children and removing abusers from the
church. Cesareo said audits should include adults who commit “boundary
violations” — generally touching in non-sexual ways — because these
violators sometime move on to sexual abuse. Spotting problems early can
help reduce abuses, he said.
