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CNN Live At Daybreak
Conflicts in the Church: Bishops' Conference
Aired June 19, 2003 - 05:06 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: O'Brien's resignation comes as America's Catholic bishops begin a three-day conference in St. Louis. Church leaders must also deal with comments from Frank Keating. Keating just resigned as head of the church board monitoring sex abuse reforms. In an interview, Keating compared some secretive bishops to the Mafia.
CNN's Jason Carroll has more now on the hurdles facing church leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's going to be the major topic for bishops meeting in St. Louis, how to restore church credibility on the issue of sexual abuse by priests.
ARCHBISHOP JOHN MEYERS, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: We have made dramatic progress across the board, and I don't know of any bishop who would leave priests accused of harming a child on assignment.
CARROLL: Last year, under immense public pressure, U.S. bishops changed church policy and adopted new measures to prevent bishops from protecting abusive priests. The new charter requires allegations be reported to authorities and priests be removed when faced with a credible allegation. Victims rights groups say so far more than 400 priests have been removed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The focus is are we creating a safe environment for children, for young people, for the vulnerable? Whatever we did in the past or whatever happened in the past, you know, have we learned from our mistakes?
CARROLL: Critics say, no.
DAVID CLORESSY, SURVIVORS NETWORK: The sad reality is despite a year and a half of horrific disclosures, despite repeated promises to try harder and do better, most bishops fundamentally are still dealing with this in the same patterns, the same patterns of secrecy and denial.
CARROLL: The victims rights groups are encouraged bishops are surveying the scope of the abuse and have formed an office to protect children.
KATHLEEN MCCHESNEY, CHILD & YOUTH PROTECTION: I see optimism among some of them that the bishops are attempting to implement some safe environment programs that will protect children in the future. CARROLL (on camera): For the bishops in St. Louis, it's not about adopting any new policies on sexual abuse, it's about making sure those now in place are being followed and are working.
Jason Carroll, CNN, St. Louis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 19, 2003 - 05:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: O'Brien's resignation comes as America's Catholic bishops begin a three-day conference in St. Louis. Church leaders must also deal with comments from Frank Keating. Keating just resigned as head of the church board monitoring sex abuse reforms. In an interview, Keating compared some secretive bishops to the Mafia.
CNN's Jason Carroll has more now on the hurdles facing church leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's going to be the major topic for bishops meeting in St. Louis, how to restore church credibility on the issue of sexual abuse by priests.
ARCHBISHOP JOHN MEYERS, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: We have made dramatic progress across the board, and I don't know of any bishop who would leave priests accused of harming a child on assignment.
CARROLL: Last year, under immense public pressure, U.S. bishops changed church policy and adopted new measures to prevent bishops from protecting abusive priests. The new charter requires allegations be reported to authorities and priests be removed when faced with a credible allegation. Victims rights groups say so far more than 400 priests have been removed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The focus is are we creating a safe environment for children, for young people, for the vulnerable? Whatever we did in the past or whatever happened in the past, you know, have we learned from our mistakes?
CARROLL: Critics say, no.
DAVID CLORESSY, SURVIVORS NETWORK: The sad reality is despite a year and a half of horrific disclosures, despite repeated promises to try harder and do better, most bishops fundamentally are still dealing with this in the same patterns, the same patterns of secrecy and denial.
CARROLL: The victims rights groups are encouraged bishops are surveying the scope of the abuse and have formed an office to protect children.
KATHLEEN MCCHESNEY, CHILD & YOUTH PROTECTION: I see optimism among some of them that the bishops are attempting to implement some safe environment programs that will protect children in the future. CARROLL (on camera): For the bishops in St. Louis, it's not about adopting any new policies on sexual abuse, it's about making sure those now in place are being followed and are working.
Jason Carroll, CNN, St. Louis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
