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CNN Live Today

Bishops Hold Conference on Sexual Abuse Policy

Aired June 12, 2002 - 13:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The nation's bishops are preparing to meet in Dallas to come up with a policy for priests accused of sexual abuse. At issue is whether they will seek a zero tolerance plan, or whether priests will be allowed to stay in the clergy if they have abused one minor in the past. The leader of the L.A.'s archdiocese says Dallas may be the last chance for church leaders to restore their credibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARDINAL ROGER MAHONY, LOS ANGELES: We have to come out of here with a very clear, strong statement that we will take every step possible to make sure that children and young people are safe in all of the church's ministries and (UNINTELLIGIBLE). There is no post- Dallas. It has to be done here, and I am quite confident we are going to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And that meeting comes as "The Dallas Morning News" reports, about two-thirds of American bishops have protected priests accused of sex crimes. Reporter Gary Reeves of CNN affiliate WFAA has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY REEVES, CNN AFFILIATE WFAA REPORTER (voice-over): When the nation's bishops arrive in Dallas to hammer out their new policy on sexual abuse, they may well get a shock from their morning paper.

In the Wednesday editions of "The Dallas Morning News," they will find the pictures and the stories of at least 110 fellow bishops accused of moving, hiding or protecting priests accused of sexual misconduct.

PAM MAPLES, "DALLAS MORNING NEWS": It's about two-thirds of the hierarchy of the U.S. church had played -- had had some sort of involvement in this issue.

REEVES: Editor Pam Maples led the research team, but reporter Brooks Egerton did most of the work, starting online.

BROOKS EGERTON, "DALLAS MORNING NEWS": We initially started with the bishop's name and a few key search terms, sexual abuse. REEVES: But then they spent three months digging up details. Even in condensed form, it will cover five pages of the paper, explaining for the first time how the leaders of the majority of the archdiocese in the nation failed to stop suspected priests.

MAPLES: And there are multiple instances in here of priests being involved or even convicted, serving probation or time, then being moved, maybe being put into treatment, then being moved, and then doing it again.

REEVES (on camera): The "Morning News" found eight instances where bishops themselves had been accused. Several are still on the job and eligible to vote on the church's new sexual abuse policy. But mainly what they found was a pattern that raises tough questions about church leaders.

EGERTON: We were looking at the questions of who knew what, when -- the questions that you would ask if were looking for evidence that things hadn't been handled forthrightly.

REEVES (voice-over): And now, "The Dallas Morning News" has put what it found into an easy-to-search database available on the Internet.

REEVES (on camera): Let's pick a state. How about Louisiana?

MAPLES: It shows one, two, three, four bishops in that state with some sort of history on this issue.

REEVES (voice-over): It's history the bishops hope to put behind them in Dallas this week, but that may be more difficult once more people read just how much many of them knew.

Gary Reeves, Channel 8 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: We are going to continue this story in just a moment about this piece out of "The Dallas Morning News," but first, we want to bring you a picture that's just into CNN. We are told that this the man wanted for questioning in the disappearance of Elizabeth Smart. Police are now releasing this picture of Bret Michael Edmunds, born in 1975. This is the man wanted for questioning in the disappearance of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart.

We are awaiting a news conference in Salt Lake City. As a matter of fact, someone is stepping up to the podium right now, it looks like getting ready to begin. As soon as he approaches the press -- OK. He is looking at his watch, so as soon as he decides to address reporters, we will take this news conference live.

All right. Now, back to the story we have been talking about in "The Dallas Morning News." The woman who just appeared in that piece now joins us out of Dallas. She is Pam Maples. She is special projects editor for "The Dallas Morning News." She oversaw the research for the paper's new database on Catholic bishops -- Pam, good to see you.

PAM MAPLES, SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about how you gathered this information and put this article together.

MAPLES: We started with a list of all of the bishops. We extensively searched public databases, published reports, court records, and then we did dozens and dozens of interviews with lawyers, church officials, various other groups to track down and flesh out the information we pulled first from the databases.

PHILLIPS: So I am curious. Any of this information -- and we're going to talk about your key findings in just a second here. Did anyone from the church dispute what you reported or what you found?

MAPLES: No, they did not.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. Plain and simple, no controversy.

MAPLES: So far, no.

PHILLIPS: That's good news. All right. Pam, we are going to try and get back to you -- ask you to stay put there.

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