Baltimore (CNN) The Vatican has told the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to delay voting on measures to hold bishops accountable for failing to protect children from sexual abuse , the president of the conference said in a surprise announcement Monday morning.

In announcing the decision to his fellow bishops, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo said he was disappointed by the Vatican's interference, which he said he learned of on Sunday afternoon.

"At the insistence of the Holy See, we will not be voting on the two action items in our docket regarding the abuse crisis," said DiNardo.

For weeks, the US Catholic bishops have trumpeted a series of reforms they had hoped to make after what one cardinal called the church's "summer of hell." Those reforms must be approved by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which gathers the country's bishops twice a year to debate and adopt new policies.

The Vatican's eleventh-hour intervention, ordered by its Congregation for Bishops, according to DiNardo, essentially puts the American bishops' reforms on hold.

DiNardo, who looked shell-shocked Monday morning, tried to put a positive spin on the Vatican's decision, calling it a "bump in the road."

But many bishops gathered in Baltimore through Wednesday were surprised and unhappy about the Vatican's decision, he acknowledged. Bishop Christopher Coyne of Vermont said the bishops had been "thrown a little sidewise" by Monday's announcement.

"We are not, ourselves, happy about this," DiNardo said during a press conference Monday in Baltimore. "We have been working hard to get to the action stage, and we'll do it, but we have to get past this bump in the road."

DiNardo also said that the text of the proposals for the bishops' meeting this week were finalized in October 30, which did not leave much time for the Vatican to raise objections or advise modifications.

Pope Francis met with his ambassador to the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, on Saturday, according to the Pope's public schedule.

Pierre is in Baltimore and addressed the body of bishops on Monday morning, though he did not mention the Vatican's insistence that the US bishops delay their vote. In a brief interview afterward, he said the Pope is concerned about "communion," the idea that the church moves together as a whole, rather than allowing national bishops conferences to make their own policies.

That goal, however, is in tension with the Pope's insistence that local church leaders are best equipped to understand and respond to the needs of their communities. Asked about the apparent contradiction, DiNardo called it "quizzical."

A Vatican spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

Pope Francis will convene a meeting of bishops from around the world in February to address the sexual abuse crisis, which has roiled the church on several continents, including North America, South America and Australia.

The bishops' well-laid plans

The Catholic bishops had been expected to debate and vote on several "concrete measures to respond to the abuse crisis," according to a news release about the meeting in Baltimore.

Those measures, according to the bishops' conference , included a hotline to report bishops accused of abuse or mishandling abuse cases, standards of conduct for bishops and "protocols for bishops resigned or removed because of abuse."

The bishops can still debate those measures, but they will not taking binding votes on them this week, following the Vatican's intervention.

DiNardo said the Vatican's instructions came in the form of a letter from its Congregation for Bishops, which he said had concerns about church law. Under canon law, only the Pope can hold bishops accountable. The congregation also wanted the US bishops to wait to take action until after the meeting of bishops in Rome next February.

Catholic bishops in the United States have been heavily criticized for failing to hold themselves accountable for the sexual abuse of children, especially after a grand jury report in Pennsylvania released this summer found widespread evidence of abuse by priests and coverups by bishops.

In another scandal, Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington and a powerful figure in the church, was demoted by Pope Francis after a man accused McCarrick of molesting him decades ago in New York. Since then, other men have come forward in media reports accusing McCarrick of molesting them while they were seminarians. McCarrick has denied the accusation from New York and is appealing his case at the Vatican.

A number of Catholic bishops have said they are concerned that McCarrick was allowed to rise through the church's ranks despite persistent rumors about his conduct. DiNardo and others traveled to Rome this fall to personally ask the Pope for the Vatican's help in investigating McCarrick.

Immediately after DiNardo made the surprise announcement on Monday, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, one of the Pope's closest allies in the United States, said the bishops should still discuss the proposals, even if they are not approved this week.

Cupich also suggested that the bishops could vote on the new measures at an emergency meeting in March.

"We need as a conference, as brother bishops, to take up this issue for the good of the church in this country without delay," Cupich said.</s>Pope Francis requested on Monday that American bishops who had gathered in Baltimore for the first time since a series of sexual abuse scandals hit the Catholic Church across the U.S. to delay voting on proposals to address those issues until he leads a global summit in February, reports the Washington Post.

Details: Both officials and representatives of survivors' groups present at the meeting were reportedly stunned by the announcement. The only bishop to speak, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, said the assembly should still hold its own non-binding vote before formally adopting the proposals as soon as possible after February's summit.</s>In an abrupt change of plans, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opened the group's national meeting Monday by announcing it will delay for at least several months any votes on proposed new steps to address the clergy sex abuse crisis that is rocking the church.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, of Galveston-Houston, said the delay was requested by the Vatican, which asked that the U.S. bishops wait until after a Vatican-convened global meeting on sex abuse in February.

DiNardo expressed disappointment but told the U.S. bishops, "I remain hopeful that this additional consultation will ultimately improve our response to the crisis we face."

The bishops are meeting through Wednesday in Baltimore and had been expected to consider several steps to combat abuse, including a new code of conduct for themselves and the creation of a special commission to review complaints against the bishops.

At their meeting, which continues through Wednesday, the bishops may proceed with discussions of these proposals, which were drafted in September by the bishops' Administrative Committee. But there will be no immediate vote.

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, of Chicago, suggested that the bishops hold a special assembly in March to vote on the measures after considering the results of the global meeting in February.

Abuse scandals have roiled the Roman Catholic Church worldwide for decades, but there have been major developments this year in the U.S.

In July, Pope Francis removed U.S. church leader Theodore McCarrick as a cardinal after church investigators said an allegation that he groped a teenage altar boy in the 1970s was credible. Subsequently, several former seminarians and priests reported that they too had been abused or harassed by McCarrick as adults, triggering debate over who might have known and covered up McCarrick's misconduct.

In August, a grand jury report in Pennsylvania detailed decades of abuse and cover-up in six dioceses, alleging that more than 1,000 children had been abused over the years by about 300 priests. Since then, a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia has begun working on a federal criminal case centered on child exploitation, and attorneys general in several other states have launched investigations.

DiNardo, in his address opening the bishops' assembly, told survivors of clergy abuse that he was "deeply sorry."

The church, he said, should not revictimize survivors "by demanding they heal on our timeline."

Announcement of a delay in the voting drew skeptical reactions.

"We had this agenda, we were moving forward on these documents, this was our goal," said Bishop Christopher Coyne, of the Vermont diocese of Burlington, and the communications chair for the three-day conference. "And now ... it will look like we don't have to come up with much."

Coyne said he believed there were "no machinations" leading to the delay, but he had concerns about how it would be perceived outside the assembly hall.

"The Vatican just made a big mistake in asking U.S. bishops to delay their votes on clergy abuse protocols," tweeted John Gehring, the Catholic program director at Faith in Public Life, a Washington-based clergy network. "The optics are terrible, and it sends a message, intended or not, that Rome doesn't recognize the urgency of the moment."</s>BALTIMORE (AP) — U.S. Catholic bishops abruptly postponed plans Monday to vote on proposed new steps to address the clergy sex abuse crisis roiling the church at the Vatican’s insistence.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was told on the eve of the bishop’s national meeting to delay action until after a Vatican-convened global meeting on sex abuse in February.

“We are not ourselves happy about this,” DiNardo told reporters in an unusual public display of frustration at a Vatican pronouncement.

“We are working very hard to move to action — and we’ll do it,” he said. “I think people in the church have a right to be skeptical. I think they also have a right to be hopeful.”

The bishops are meeting through Wednesday in Baltimore and had been expected to consider several steps to combat abuse, including a new code of conduct for themselves and the creation of a special commission, including lay experts, to review complaints against the bishops.

The bishops plan to proceed with discussing these proposals, which were drafted in September by the bishops’ Administrative Committee. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, of Chicago, suggested the bishops could hold a non-binding vote on the proposals while in Baltimore and then convene a special assembly for a formal vote after considering the results of the global meeting in February.

“I realize that another meeting will create logistical challenges for the conference staff and the bishops’ schedules, but there is a grave urgency to this matter and we cannot delay,” Cupich said.

Abuse scandals have roiled the Roman Catholic Church worldwide for decades, but there have been major developments this year in the U.S.

In July, Pope Francis removed U.S. church leader Theodore McCarrick as a cardinal after church investigators said an allegation that he groped a teenage altar boy in the 1970s was credible. Subsequently, several former seminarians and priests reported they too had been abused or harassed by McCarrick as adults, triggering debate over who might have known and covered up McCarrick’s misconduct.

In August, a grand jury report in Pennsylvania detailed decades of abuse and cover-up in six dioceses, alleging more than 1,000 children had been abused over the years by about 300 priests. Since then, a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia has begun working on a federal criminal case centered on child exploitation, and attorneys general in several other states have launched investigations.

DiNardo, in his address opening the bishops’ assembly, told survivors of clergy abuse he was “deeply sorry.”

“Some would say this is entirely a crisis of the past. It is not,” DiNardo said. “We must never victimize survivors over again by demanding they heal on our timeline.”

After DiNardo’s address, the bishops adjourned to a chapel for a daylong session of prayer that includes remarks by two survivors of clergy abuse who have worked to promote healing and reconciliation among other victims.

“Please understand the heart of the church is broken and you need to fix this now,'” Luis A. Torres Jr. told the bishops. “You were not called to be CEOs… You were not called to be princes. Be the priests that you were called to be. Please act now. Be better. Be good.”

Outside the conference hall, news of the delay in voting angered some protesters who were demanding the bishops take strong action against abuse.

“I know that they answer to the Holy See, but there’s a bigger imperative here, which is that children and victims need them to step forward,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, who works at the abuse database BishopAccountability.org. “By complying so meekly with what the pope has demanded of them today, they are surrendering their responsibility.”

Liz McCloskey, part of a coalition of concerned Catholics called the 5 Theses movement that has posted its proposals for reform on church doors in Baltimore and other cities, said the stakes couldn’t be higher. She said Catholics were “leaving in droves” in the absence of significant reforms and full transparency.

“Delaying taking any action in response to the sex abuse scandal is not only a public relations nightmare but a moral failing,” McCloskey told The Associated Press.

Her group’s proposals for the bishops include cooperating fully with investigations and releasing names of credibly accused clergy, committing to shedding regalia and living simply, and asking Pope Francis to put women in leadership posts.

DiNardo said the bishops didn’t complete a final draft of their proposed anti-abuse actions until Oct. 30 and the Vatican, with relatively short notice, sought to delay voting because of potential legal complications.

Nonetheless, John Gehring, the Catholic program director at a Washington-based clergy network called Faith in Public Life, said the Vatican “just made a big mistake.”

“The optics are terrible, and it sends a message, intended or not, that Rome doesn’t recognize the urgency of the moment,” Gehring tweeted .</s>(CNN) — The Vatican has told the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to delay voting on measures to hold bishops accountable for failing to protect children from sexual abuse, the president of the conference said in a surprise announcement Monday morning.

In his announcement, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo said he was “disappointed” by the Vatican’s decision, which he said he learned of on Sunday afternoon. Pope Francis met with his ambassador to the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, on Saturday, according to the pope’s public schedule.

Pierre is in Baltimore and addressed the body of bishops on Monday morning, though he did not mention the Vatican’s insistence that the US bishops delay their vote. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops gathers about 200 bishops from around the country twice a year to debate and adopt new policies.

A Vatican spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pope Francis will convene a meeting of bishops from around the world in February to address the sexual abuse crisis, which has roiled the church on several continents, including North America, South America and Australia.

The Catholic bishops had been expected to debate and vote on several “concrete measures to respond to the abuse crisis,” according to a news release about the meeting in Baltimore.

Those measures, according to the bishops’ conference, included a hotline to report bishops accused of abuse or mishandling abuse cases, standards of conduct for bishops and “protocols for bishops resigned or removed because of abuse.”

The bishops can still debate those measures, but they will not vote on them this week, following the Vatican’s intervention.

US Catholic bishops announce new policies to police bishops

Catholic bishops in the United States have been heavily criticized for failing to hold themselves accountable for the sexual abuse of children, especially after a grand jury report in Pennsylvania released this summer found widespread evidence of abuse by priests and coverups by bishops. Under church law, only the Pope can discipline bishops.

In another scandal, Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, DC, and a powerful figure in the church, was demoted by Pope Francis after a man accused McCarrick of molesting him decades ago in New York. Since then, other men have come forward in media reports accusing McCarrick of molesting them while they were seminarians. McCarrick has denied some of the accusations and is appealing his case at the Vatican.

A number of Catholic bishops have said they are concerned that McCarrick was allowed to rise through the church’s ranks despite persistent rumors about his conduct. DiNardo and others traveled to Rome this fall to personally ask the Pope for the Vatican’s help in investigating McCarrick.

Immediately after DiNardo made the surprise announcement on Monday, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, one of the Pope’s closest allies in the United States, said the bishops should still discuss the proposals, even if they are not voted on this week.

Cupich also suggested that the bishops could vote on the new measures at an emergency meeting in March.

“We need as a conference, as brother bishops, to take up this issue for the good of the church in this country without delay,” Cupich said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.</s>BALTIMORE (AP) — At the Vatican's insistence, U.S. Catholic bishops abruptly postponed plans today to vote on proposed new steps to address the clergy sex abuse crisis roiling the church.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was told on the eve of the bishop's national meeting to delay action until after a Vatican-convened global meeting on sex abuse in February.

"We are not ourselves happy about this," DiNardo told reporters in an unusual public display of frustration at a Vatican pronouncement.

"We are working very hard to move to action – and we'll do it," he said. "I think people in the church have a right to be skeptical. I think they also have a right to be hopeful."

The bishops are meeting through Wednesday in Baltimore and had been expected to consider several steps to combat abuse, including a new code of conduct for themselves and the creation of a special commission, including lay experts, to review complaints against the bishops.

The bishops plan to proceed with discussing these proposals, which were drafted in September by the bishops' Administrative Committee. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, of Chicago, suggested the bishops could hold a non-binding vote on the proposals while in Baltimore and then convene a special assembly for a formal vote after considering the results of the global meeting in February.

"I realize that another meeting will create logistical challenges for the conference staff and the bishops' schedules, but there is a grave urgency to this matter and we cannot delay," Cupich said.</s>BALTIMORE (CNS) — At the urging of the Vatican, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will not vote on two proposals they were to discuss at their Baltimore meeting regarding their response to the clergy sex abuse crisis.

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, USCCB president, informed the bishops as they opened their fall general assembly Nov. 12 that the Vatican wanted the bishops to delay any vote until after a February meeting with the pope and presidents of the bishops’ conferences around the world that will focus on addressing clergy abuse.

Affected are proposed standards of episcopal conduct and the formation of a special commission for review of complaints against bishops for violations of the standards.

Cardinal DiNardo said he was disappointed that no action would be taken during the assembly, but that he was hopeful that the delay “will improve our response to the crisis we face.”

The cardinal’s announcement came two days after Pope Francis met with Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, at the Vatican. Archbishop Pierre returned to the United States Nov. 11 in time for the first day of the U.S. bishops’ general fall assembly in Baltimore.

However, at a midday news conference, Cardinal DiNardo said the request to delay action came from the Congregation for Bishops.

The assembly planned to move forward with discussion of both proposals from the bishop’s Administrative Committee.

The Administrative Committee consists of the officers, chairmen and regional representatives of the USCCB. The committee, which meets in March and September, is the highest authority of the USCCB outside of the full body of bishops when they meet for their fall and spring general assemblies.

In response, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago suggested the general assembly move forward with its discussion of the two proposals. He also called for a special assembly in March to weigh and vote on the measures after being informed by the outcome of the February meeting in Rome.

“It is clear that the Holy See is taking seriously the abuse crisis in the church,” Cardinal Cupich said, adding that the February meeting was a “watershed moment” in church history.

“We need to be clear where we stand and tell our people where we stand,” he said.

Later in the morning session, just before the assembly adjourned for a day of prayer and penitence, Cardinal DiNardo opened his presidential address pointing to the weakness within the church that has led to the clergy abuse crisis.

Repeatedly citing the words of St. Augustine, he said “in order that weakness might become strong, strength became weak.”

He called for action to lift the entire brotherhood of bishops from a place of weakness that has allowed the clergy sex abuse crisis to exist. While there were to be no votes on specific action at the meeting, he said the deliberations the bishops would undertake would set them on the route to healing for the church and for victims of abuse.

He also held up his own weakness to victims, saying: “Where I have not been watchful or alert to your needs, wherever I have failed, I am deeply sorry.”

Cardinal DiNardo urged the bishops to root themselves in the life and teaching of Jesus to lead the church and the victims of abuse to healing. He also called for the bishops to focus on the needs of victims so that “our example not lead a single person away from the Lord.”

He also said that the bishops must be as accountable as anyone else in ministry in the church and that they, like priests and other church workers, must adhere to the same standards of conduct identified in the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

“Whether we will be remembered as guardians of the abused or of the abuser will be determined by our action beginning this week and the months ahead. Let us draw near to Christ today sacrificing him our own ambitions and promptly submit ourselves totally to what he demands of us both in love and justice,” he said.

In his seven-minute address, the cardinal said that he read that St. Augustine warned there are two extremes that pose dangers to the faithful — despair and presumption.

“We and the faithful can fall into despair believing that there is no hope for the church or (for) good change in the church. We can also believe that there are no hopes for healing from these sins,” he said.

“But we must always remember that there is a thing called trusting faith and it leads us on our current journey. This trusting faith provides us roots, roots for a living memory. Our people need this living memory of hope,” he said.

Presumption can lull the church into inactivity, he added, “by presuming that this will blow over, that things simply return to normal on their own. Some would say this is entirely a crisis of the past, and it is not. We must never victimize survivors over again by demanding that hey heal on our timeline.”

While the majority of abuse incidents occurred decades ago, the pain among victims “is daily and present,” he continued and warned against leaving behind people who have been hurt by clergy.

“In justice we must search for every child of God whose innocence is lost to a horrific predator at any time decades ago or this very day,” Cardinal DiNardo said.

He explained that healing can result through forgiveness, adding, “Let us not only be willing but also ready and eager to ask for forgiveness.”

“Combating the evil of sexual assault in the church will require all our spiritual and physical resources,” he said. “We must draw near to Christ in our sorrow, in humility and in contrition to better hear his voice and discern his will. It is only after listening that we can carry out the changes needed, the changes the people of God are rightfully demanding.”

Copyright ©2018 Catholic News Service / U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Send questions about this site to cns@catholicnews.com</s>The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will not be considering two measures it drafted in response to the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church after the Vatican intervened at the last minute. Announcing the surprise move at the start of the bishops’ annual fall assembly, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo said, “At the insistence of the Holy See, we will not be voting” on the changes.

“The Holy See has asked that we delay voting,” DiNardo said, because Pope Francis plans to hold a global meeting of conference presidents, scheduled for February 2019.

One of the two “action items” would establish standards of accountability for bishops; the other would set up a special commission for receiving complaints against bishops.

“I am sorry for the late notice, but in fact this was conveyed to me late yesterday afternoon,” said DiNardo, the archbishop of Galveston-Houston.

“Although I am disappointed that we will not be taking these actions tomorrow” through a vote, he said, adding that he hopes the delay will let the Catholic Church improve its response to the abuse crisis.

The sudden change in the bishops’ agenda came as they gathered in Baltimore, planning to put in place what the conference called “a series of concrete measures” in response to the sexual abuse scandal.

It is “the first public meeting of bishops since a Pennsylvania grand jury investigation reported at least a thousand children were molested by hundreds of priests — and that bishops systematically covered it up,” Mary Rose Madden of member station WYPR reports.

Even before that shocking report on “predator priests” emerged in August, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, said he was concerned that the church wasn’t responding quickly or actively enough to the abuse crisis.

As news of the Vatican’s intervention spread, NPR’s Sylvia Poggioli reports, “critics of the delay said it sends the message that the Holy See does not grasp the depth of the crisis.” And Madden notes that activists and abuse survivors have been taking to social media to declare that “justice delayed is justice denied.”

When DiNardo began the bishops’ meeting on Monday, he devoted a large chunk of his opening address to speak directly to abuse survivors.

“Where I have not been watchful or alert to your needs, wherever I have failed, I am deeply sorry,” DiNardo said. He added. “Some would say this is entirely a crisis of the past. It is not. We must never victimize survivors over again by demanding they heal on our timeline.”

Many of the abuse cases that have now become part of the public record date from years or decades ago. “But the pain is daily,” the president of the U.S. bishops said.

At a midday news conference that focused heavily on the months-long delay, DiNardo said that even though the U.S. bishops cannot immediately hold a vote, they would still work to clarify the actions they want to take, “so that Rome will see that.”

“We are not, ourselves, happy about this,” he said.</s>Attendees speak during a break at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) general assembly in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., November 12, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

(Reuters) - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will delay action to deal with a crisis involving sexual abuse of minors by clergy until after a global meeting in February at the request of the Vatican, conference president Cardinal Daniel DiNardo said on Monday.

The Catholic Church worldwide is reeling from crises involving sexual abuse of minors, deeply damaging confidence in the Church in the United States, Chile, Australia, Ireland and elsewhere.

Cardinal DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said the Congregation for Bishops in Rome had sent a letter asking U.S. bishops to wait until after the Vatican-convened global meeting on sex abuse takes place in February.

"We have accepted with disappointment this particular event that took place this morning," Cardinal DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said at a media conference on Monday, the opening day of the conference. "We have not lessened in any of our resolve for actions."

In the United States, 13 state attorneys general have launched statewide investigations into sexual abuse by clergy.

In August, an 884-page report made public by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro stated that Roman Catholic priests in the state sexually abused nearly 1,000 children over a 70-year period and silenced victims through "the weaponization of faith" and a systematic cover-up campaign by their bishops.

The conference of bishops had expected to focus this week on a measures to combat abuse, including establishing a new code of conduct, according to a September statement.

"We humbly welcome and are grateful for the assistance of the whole people of God in holding us accountable," the statement said.

Terry McKiernan, co-director of victims' advocacy group BishopAccountability.org, said the Pope's intervention in this week's conference was a frustrating setback.

"This situation is so terrible that the only way that it’s really going to be solved is if bishops convincingly demonstrate their remorse and concern," McKiernan told Reuters in a phone interview.

DiNardo called the delay "a bump in the road" on Monday but said it does not reflect U.S. bishops' lack of determination to deal with the issue.

"We were all set to move to reach an action stage here this week," DiNardo said. "I don't look upon any of this as a change in direction for the Catholic bishops of the United States."</s>As the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opened a Day of Prayer at the Fall Bishops General Assembly Nov. 12, John McKeon was the first to walk a path along Aliceanna Street outside the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, just after 9 a.m.

Along with his wife, Karen Greklek, he made the journey from New York to show his concern with a simple poster board sign and matching pins that read “REPENT RESIGN.”

“I don’t think the church would miss a beat if they all resigned,” McKeon said, calling for a collective resignation similar to that of the bishops of Chile. “There are many ways to serve the Lord – they don’t have to be a bishop.”

Even if Pope Francis does not accept the resignations of every bishop, he said, the gesture would show remorse.

“I’m here because of my faith,” said McKeon, a parishioner of St. Mary-Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Mount Vernon, N.Y. “I want the Catholic Church to be what it should be, not what it is.”

Leaders from BishopAccountability.org organized a morning press conference, where they and victim-survivors of abuse denounced the Vatican’s request for the U.S. bishops not to vote on two proposals they were to discuss at the assembly regarding their response to the clergy sex abuse scandals.

The Vatican – via the Congregation for Bishops – asked the U.S. bishops to delay any vote until after a February meeting with the pope and presidents of the bishops’ conferences around the world that will focus on addressing clergy abuse. The bishops were informed of the request just as the general meeting was being called to order.

Action “absolutely cannot wait,” said Peter Isely, a spokesperson for Ending Clergy Abuse and founding member of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), who was the first to speak at the press conference. “There’s no reason to wait. … It’s well overdue; it’s time to stand up and do something.”

Isely a victim-survivor of abuse in Wisconsin, said the bishops “need to deliver” at the General Assembly, which is to run Nov. 12-14.

“They cannot walk out of this conference without delivering anything,” he said.

Isely still considers himself Catholic because he believes there is a possibility that there will be change.

“I don’t know what a post-abuse church will look like, but that’s one I want to be a part of,” he said. “I still do believe out of … the voice of that suffering (by abuse victims and survivors) will come the real spiritual reform of this church.”

Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, and co-director and Terence McKiernan, the organization’s president, pointed to Bishop Steven Biegler of the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyo., as a good example of an accountable bishop.

McKiernan told the Catholic Review that releasing the names of accused and continuously updating those lists are steps in the right direction of attaining accountability.

“We know survivors who can’t go into a church,” McKiernan said, adding that as a researcher, he cannot walk away. “This has actually made my faith stronger and more important.”

The press conference also heard from Shaun Dougherty, a victim-survivor who called upon his bishop, Bishop Mark Bartchak of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, Pa., to be a leader in the reform of the church.

Dougherty told the Review that his name was one of those redacted from the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report released Aug. 14.

It was Dougherty’s first time protesting outside the bishops’ conference. He said throughout his entire adult life, some members of the conference covered up clergy sexual abuse.

“This time, if they’re going to do it again, they’re going to do it with me standing here,” Dougherty said. “I will not cower again.”

One of nine children and raised in a “very, very” Catholic household, Dougherty said he stopped practicing his faith as a teenager as a direct result of the abuse he encountered.

“I wholeheartedly struggle with faith,” he said. “If they (bishops) want me to believe in God, they should probably do something to show me that they believe in God.”

Dougherty last encountered sexual abuse from a clergy member in 1983, but said “the mental torment and torture has lasted every day since that time.”

His family knows about the abuse, and most have since left the Catholic Church. He still has two brothers and a sister who actively practice the Catholic faith, and acknowledged that the personal choice lies with the individual.

“The Catholic faithful and the Catholic hierarchy – in order to get me to go back (to the church) – would have to act the way they taught me to act in Catholic school,” Dougherty said. “Until then, I don’t believe in anything.”

Fewer than 10 people participated in the protests outside the conference hotel on the first day of the fall meeting.

Some protests of and demonstrations in support of of the General Assembly began over the weekend. A group of priests, seminarians and lay faithful walked nearly 50 miles from Emmitsburg to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore Nov. 9-11 in penance and prayer.

Just before those pilgrims participated in 4:30 p.m. Mass Nov. 11, a paper was taped to the door of the basilica listing “5 Theses” by the group of the same name. They called for full transparency, survivors’ voices, simple living, women in church leadership and praying for a reformed church.

Members also placed the theses in the collection basket with two pennies – their “two cents” – attached. Liz McCloskey, one of the leaders of 5 Theses, said the pennies paralleled the day’s reading from the Gospel of Mark.

“The Gospel for the day is the widow’s mite,” McCloskey told Catholic News Service. This is a drop in the bucket. This is a huge institution that’s been around for 2,000 years and is slow to change.

“There is a feeling of powerlessness or not influencing the church, yet Jesus said those two cents are of value,” she said. “My hope is that this is a contribution that’s valued and is heard.”

A vigil called “Nothing About Us Without Us” was slated for the afternoon of Nov. 12 outside the Marriott entrance.

Sponsored by SNAP and Catholics for Action, it was to include a memorial for survivors who have passed away and a vigil as a reminder for the bishops that the voices of survivors and laity need to be included and a central part of discussions about the clergy sex scandal, according to the Maryland Catholics for Action website.

Dennis Sadowski of Catholic News Service contributed to this article.
Pope Francis asks the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, now meeting in Baltimore, to delay voting on proposals to address the sexual abuse crisis until he leads a global summit in February.