Where do we go from here?

Earlier this month, I travelled to Baltimore for the Fall Plenary Assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. I went with a sense of anticipation and purpose. Without a doubt it was the most anticipated gathering of the USCCB since 2002 when the bishops met in Dallas in the wake of a dramatic outbreak of abuse claims involving clergy.

That meeting produced the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which set in place new standards for creating and maintaining safe environments in our parishes, schools and ministries. It has proven to be very effective. The notable gap in the charter was that it did not apply explicitly to bishops. This oversight or omission has contributed significantly to the disastrous consequences that we are experiencing today in the wake of the Archbishop McCarrick scandal and the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report.

The meeting in Baltimore turned the spotlight on bishops and our own responsibility for the crisis and our need for accountability, repentance and reform. We had cleared the agenda of all non-essential business to focus our energy on specific concrete actions we wished to take in response to the ongoing clergy abuse scandal that has inflicted such a grievous wound on the Body of Christ, the Church.

Among the measures we wanted to enact were the following:

·         Finalize a set of Standards of Accountability for Bishops;

·         Develop a process for investigating complaints of abuse by bishops or mismanagement of abuse claims by bishops;

·         Finalize a protocol for bishops who have been removed from office;

·         Establish a third-party reporting system for violations of the Standards of Accountability for Bishops.

In addition to these measures, we wished to discuss the investigations that have been launched into the Archbishop McCarrick scandal and see the publication of those results.

The meeting was scheduled to begin with a day of prayer to invoke the guidance of the Holy Spirit upon our deliberations. We would spend the day in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, offer prayers of reparation and hear from victims of abuse.

Even before we launched into the day of prayer, Cardinal DiNardo, president of the USCCB, made an opening announcement that sucked the air out of the room. An 11^th-hour decision had been made by the Holy See, instructing us to postpone any votes on the proposed agenda items.

The announcement was met with shock, anger and disappointment. The rationale for this unexpected action was to allow the presidents of the various episcopal conferences of the world, who have been summoned to Rome for a February meeting, to discuss the abuse crisis together and help inform the Holy Father of the global situation.

The day of prayer that followed the announcement took on a different tone as we each wrestled with the consequences of this unexpected postponement of our vote on each of the action items. The meeting that began the following morning was unlike any bishops meeting in the 15 years I have been attending them.

Since we were not moving any of our agenda items toward a vote, we had considerably more time for discussion and debate of the proposals. Many new voices emerged as more bishops added their input and insights to the conversation. These were the richest interventions I have ever heard at a bishops meeting.

Before we adjourned Cardinal DiNardo announced the formation of a task force to translate the conversations we had on the proposed agenda into specific action items that Cardinal DiNardo will take to the meeting of the episcopal conference presidents in Rome in February. His stated purpose is take “the strongest possible actions at the earliest possible moment” and to do so in communion with the Universal Church.

In the end, the meeting was an emotional roller coaster rising and falling from disappointment to renewed hope and commitment. I believe there is a very strong commitment from the bishops of the United States to act to implement strong measures of accountability and reform as quickly as possible.