Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Bishops Conference Under Way in Texas

Aired June 14, 2002 - 10:41   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to Texas, where the bishops are in Dallas and the devil is in the details, and we're here covering this U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops their right now. We just saw moments ago, they are dealing with these details. They are trying to hammer out a document that can be voted on, and we expect that will happen sometime today. Of course, we will be standing by to watch it, and as we said, we've been talking to people on both sides of the issue out here in Dallas and many have said they don't believe that the bishops there is the nerve and the courage to actually police themselves.

But we were trying to also get insight on how these debates have gone inside this conference.

Our Jason Carroll is joining us now. He has actually had a chance to sit down and talk with some of the bishops who have been inside.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Let's start out with archbishop Harry Flynn. He started out with this morning's proceedings; he started out by addressing the bishops. He said that the church has to root out the cancer that has been plaguing the Catholic Church. He also said they've ended up with a stronger first draft than they initially had, especially dealing with the issue of zero tolerance. He said that they took into -- took into play as many comments as possible, especially comments coming from the victims.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARCHBISHOP HARRY FLYNN: The bottom line remains, and that is no priest or deacon who has abused a minor can remain in ministry. As good pastors attentive to those we serve, we can do no less.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Basically, what has happened is the ad hoc committee on sexual abuse has come up with an amendment to initial proposal that would basically close the loophole that would have allowed past one- time offenders to remain in the ministry.

Earlier this morning, I had an opportunity to speak with Chicago's cardinal, Francis George, and he talked about this new amendment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARDINAL FRANCIS GEORGE, CHICAGO ARCHDIOCESE: There will be no possibility of public ministry in the Catholic Church for anyone who has this sort of crime and associated with his personal history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: This is a much stronger stance on the issue of zero tolerance. But I have to point out, There's still nothing in this current draft that outlines what happens in terms of accountability. In other words, how in the world do you punish or sanction a bishop or cardinal, for that matter, who chooses not to follow this national policy that the bishops here are trying to adopt. That is still something that's going to have to be up for debate.

HARRIS: All right, we'll, let's get our analysts, father Thomas Reese, who joins us once again.

Are you the one who prayed for this cooler weather in Dallas this morning?.

REV. THOMAS REESE, "AMERICA" MAGAZINE: Certainly a lot nicer than it was yesterday.

HARRIS: It proves your connections are strong. You've been covering this kind of meeting for the past 20 years. What do you think is happening right now with this debate, as Jason just mentioned, about the accountability issue, as well as zero-tolerance policy?

REESE: Well, I think the bishops have got the message, that the people are simply not going to accept any priest returning to ministry who has been involved in any abuse of minor.

So the zero tolerance is in. These people are not going to return to ministry. They're not going to be involved in parishes. They are not going to be able to say mass in public. They are simply out of ministry, and I think this is what was probably needed in order to restore confidence in the bishops.

HARRIS: Are you sure about that? Jason, you correct me if I'm wrong. But we saw a report this morning in "The New York Times" from Cardinal Egan of New York, that was saying something that sounds a bit different than what we have been hearing from both you and some of the other bishops and archbishops we've been talking about. They've been saying if a policy is established here it is going to be a national policy, and that means it will be a policy, that if it's approved by the Vatican, that everyone will have to appeal to. However, Cardinal Egan this morning is quoted as saying that a national policy is one thing, but the local policy is what takes precedence.

REESE: Well, if this documents goes to Rome and is approved by Rome, then it will be legally binding on every bishop in the country. However, you know, as soon as it is passed, every bishop in the country can voluntarily implement it immediately. Now what happens if a bishop doesn't? Suppose a bishop doesn't? What they have in this charter is procedures where there will be an annual report that will be made public, that will describe what every bishop in the country has done or has not done to implement this charter.

So the real enforcement mechanism is public disclosure. Everybody in the diocese is going to know what their bishop is doing. The media in his diocese are going to know what the bishop is doing or not doing. And if he isn't on board, the people in the diocese are going to go after him. The media are going to go after him. So I think the enforcement mechanism is making all of this public, and holding any bishop up to ridicule and pressure if he does not get with the program.

HARRIS: There are many that don't think that's going to work, though. So we'll have to see how that all plays out.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com