Some canon lawyers say due process limited for accused priests

Published: 2004-01-28

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As U.S. dioceses prepare to evaluate the cases of clerics accused of sex abuse of minors, several canon lawyers defending accused priests have complained that the procedures limit due process for their clients. "Under church law you are innocent until proven guilty," said Oblate Father Frank Morrisey, a canon lawyer who is defending several U.S. priests. Yet, once a cleric has been accused, he is suspended from public ministry before being able to mount a defense, he said. Critics say that this amounts to punishment without a proof of guilt. Father Morrisey said that the accused has to wait months for the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which has overall authority in sex abuse cases, to review the diocese's preliminary investigation and tell the diocese how to proceed in the case. Another canon lawyer, Father Nicholas Rachford, said this delay puts accused priests in a state of "suspended animation."

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