Audits find most dioceses now comply with bishops' sex abuse norms

Published: 2004-01-06

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- By the end of 2003, nearly 90 percent of U.S. Catholic dioceses were in compliance with the bishops' national policy to protect children and respond to clergy sexual abuse of minors, according to the first national audit report released Jan. 6. On most elements the report said 98 percent to 100 percent of audited dioceses were judged to be in compliance with the 17-article "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" adopted by the bishops in June 2002. There were only two mandates on which compliance was lower than 98 percent: having comprehensive safe environment programs in place throughout the diocese (91 percent), and conducting background checks on all church employees and volunteers who work with minors (93 percent). Most of the dioceses not in compliance were under instructions to make changes in two or more areas. "The audit represents solid progress on the journey toward fulfilling the vision set out by the charter," Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said at a press conference on the report's release.

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