Victim advocates meet with board reviewing how Catholic bishops handle abuse claims

Monday, September 16th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Advocates for sex abuse victims urged a national panel Monday to start publicizing information about Roman Catholic bishops who fail to properly address molestation in the American church.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said it has evidence that 13 of the nation's 195 dioceses have failed to comply with the disciplinary policy the bishops approved in June. SNAP representatives met with the church-appointed National Review Board for more than an hour Monday.

Susan Archibald, president of The Linkup, another victims' advocacy group at the meeting, said ``the board was placed into battle with very few weapons,'' except its ability to alert the public about which prelates were violating the plan.

``We still see little accountability for the senior management of the American church,'' SNAP said in a statement it presented to the board. ``We are afraid that dozens of priests with histories of sexual abuse remain in public ministry.''

The bishops conference insists that a majority of bishops are complying with the plan.

The board, made up of 13 prominent lay Catholics and chaired by Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, was established as a way to help enforce the reform policy U.S. bishops overwhelmingly approved three months ago.

The board has met just twice, allowing advocates for victims to participate briefly in both sessions. The board was to continue meeting privately for several hours.

At its first meeting July 30, the board directed the bishops' staff to compile a preliminary survey of policy implementation in each diocese. That report was to be reviewed Monday.

The board also had hoped to announce the director of the new Office for Child and Youth Protection on the U.S. bishops' Washington staff. But a few more weeks are needed to make a selection, said the board's Vice Chair Anne Burke, an Illinois appellate judge.

The crowded Oklahoma City agenda also includes details on how the child-protection office will operate and several other projects. ``All of us have day jobs, so we're going to be cutting up the work so each board member will be intimately involved,'' Burke said.

The board is mandated to supervise the child-protection office, check on the performance of each U.S. diocese and commission research about the scope and origins of the abuse scandal.

Keating's group is taking a broad view of its duties. For instance, the head of the bishops' staff officially appoints the child-protection director, but a board subcommittee took charge of the search.

The lay board has only advisory powers, but its existence alone is an unprecedented power-sharing move by the nation's church hierarchy. Keating has said the group will wield influence by publicizing bishops' past or future failures. Only the pope can remove a bishop, however.

Originally, the board planned to give victims a full morning in Oklahoma City. SNAP has complained that Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. hierarchy, did not name one of its members to the panel.

The board reached full membership Aug. 23 when Gregory appointed New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Petra J. Maes. Others named earlier included Washington lawyer Robert S. Bennett and former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta.

Burke said board members have conferred frequently by phone and e-mail since the first meeting. The board plans to meet monthly until January, in addition to subcommittee meetings.