Bishops fund clergy sex abuse study, form new Eastern-rite region

Published: 2006-11-14

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- By unanimous voice vote the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 13 approved spending $335,000 next year to fund the first phases of a massive study of the causes and context of clergy sexual abuse of minors in the U.S. Catholic Church. On the first day of their Nov. 13-16 meeting in Baltimore the bishops also voted unanimously to form a new 15th USCCB region, composed entirely of the bishops of Eastern-rite Catholic churches. On the second day, Nov. 14, they adopted a five-year extension of their resolution on diocesan financial reporting with a 228-1 vote, with three abstentions. Much of the bishops' first day was devoted to initial presentation and discussion of statements or other actions that were to go through an amendment process before being debated and voted on the following day. The decisions on the abuse study and a new conference region did not need to go through the amendment process, however, so they were debated and voted on immediately.

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