Canadian bishops' task force urges ban on priests convicted of abuse

Published: 2005-09-28

CORNWALL, Ontario (CNS) -- A Canadian bishops' task force recommended banning priests and pastoral staffers convicted of sexual abuse from any public church ministry for the rest of their lives. The long-anticipated report on how Canada's bishops are dealing with clergy sexual abuse called on all bishops to publicly and individually commit themselves to a strict method of dealing with the problem. It also called for public reporting on how the church is doing in its battle to eradicate abuse. The bishops have been asked to forward their comments on the report to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops headquarters in Ottawa. Comments will be presented to the bishops' permanent council in March; a final protocol will be voted on by all bishops. Archbishop James Weisgerber of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Bishop Eugene Tremblay of Amos, Quebec, co-chairmen the 10-member task force, presented their report Sept. 22 to the annual meeting of bishops in Cornwall.

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .