Ban on Young Workers at Rectories Is Delayed

SAN FRANCISCO — Teenage rectory workers in the San Francisco Catholic Archdiocese will be able to hold on to their jobs for at least a little bit longer, pending a final decision from the archbishop.

Archbishop William Levada had ordered a ban on youth rectory workers at the archdiocese's 89 parishes in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties. He took the action to avoid lawsuits. The archdiocese recently paid an undisclosed amount to settle a suit brought by a 16-year-old rectory worker who had accused his Burlingame pastor of abuse.

The ban was expected to take effect over the next couple of months, but the archdiocese decided to further study the issue.

The plan had come under fire because child advocates and community activists said that it unfairly punished the children for some priests' transgressions and ignored the problem of abusive priests.