
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 18, 1993                   TAG: 9306180054
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS                                LENGTH: Medium

CLERGY SEX-ABUSE COMMITTEE FORMED VICTIM AID IS CATHOLIC BISHOPS' GOAL

The nation's Catholic bishops, buffeted by a series of reports of priestly pedophilia, established a committee Thursday to address the problem of clergy sexual abuse.

The Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse was charged with making recommendations on what the church can do to assist victims and their families. It also will assess the risks of reassigning abusive priests, once they've been treated, to other duties within the church.

"I want to make sure that all of us bishops understand the depth and the seriousness, the pain and the agony of this problem and why it strikes at the very heart of the church's trust level and credibility level," said Bishop John F. Kinney of Bismarck, N.D., the committee's chairman.

The committee was established following a report from a church-sponsored panel recommending the establishment of a national task force on child abuse and a ban on abusive priests returning to any ministry that includes minors.

The panel of more than 30 experts on clergy sexual abuse also urged the nation's bishops at their annual spring meeting to establish a national day of prayer and penance on behalf of victims of sexual abuse and to set up independent diocesan review boards to oversee how the church handles abuse allegations.

The committee and the report to the bishops come amid increasing allegations of clergy sex abuse in dioceses around the country.

The Rev. Canice Connors, chairman of the panel on sex abuse, said 2 percent to 4 percent of Catholic priests in the past 30 years may have been guilty of abuse.

by CNB