Some of the younger bishops, who called for prompt action to confront clergy sex abuse at last November’s meeting of the US bishops’ conference, viewed the Vatican’s February summit on clergy sex abuse as a “green light” to pursue meaningful and concrete steps to both address the abuse and prevent any future cover-ups.
“There sure is urgency,” said Bishop Steven Biegler of Cheyenne, Wyoming “I think, providentially, that God is using this moment, for the church and the world, to bring awareness of this ‘scourge of abuse,’” he said. “"What if, 20 years from now, the church becomes where you come for healing from sex abuse?”
“The validity and the success of the summit will depend on the concrete outcomes,” Bishop Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri told the National Catholic Reporter. He said that the bishops, who will meet in June to address the issue, must take action. “Right now that’s what people want to see.”
Both men have been bishops for less than two years and both are among the few bishops praised by victims’ advocacy groups for their interventions at last November’s meeting, as well as for actions they have taken on their own. Last year, the Survivors Network for Those Abuse by Priests (SNAP) said both men had “distinguished themselves from their largely complacent and sometimes duplicitous colleagues.” Biegler travelled to Rome last year to expedite an investigation into one of his predecessors, Bishop Joseph Hart. McKnight issued a decree that all religious orders working in his diocese must have published the names of clergy credibly accused of abuse by the end of this year.
It remains unclear exactly what proposals the bishops will adopt. The Leadership Roundtable, which advises church leaders on management and related issues, released a report advocating ideas that focus on the “twin crises” of abuse and its cover-up.
Meanwhile, in New York State, dioceses are preparing for an onslaught of new claims when that state lifts the statute of limitations on filing criminal charges of abuse and as a consequence of the Attorney General opening a statewide investigation.
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