Church Reform

Like Catholic priests everywhere, Bishop Peter Hickman dons a white tunic each Sunday to celebrate Mass in a sanctuary laden with incense and crosses. Unlike most, he'll often have lunch with his wife and children afterward. "Marriage promotes growth," says Hickman, 50, who has fathered five children, been married three times and divorced twice. "People who've never been married have a hard time knowing themselves."

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops were expected today to reauthorize a 3-year-old "zero tolerance" policy to prevent the sexual abuse of minors and to weed offending clergy out of public ministry. But protesters outside the Fairmont Hotel, where the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is holding its annual spring meeting, charged that proposed changes in the policy would weaken the church's commitment to safeguard children and youth from sexual predators.

With little debate, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops Friday extended by five years safeguards to protect children and youth from sexual predators within the church. The decision by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, meeting here for their spring session, reaffirmed the U.S. church's "zero tolerance" policy hammered out at the height of the sexual abuse scandal in 2002.

All but 10% of the nation's 194 Roman Catholic dioceses have fully complied with rules and safeguards to prevent sexual abuse of minors by priests, the church's watchdog office will report today in the aftermath of a scandal that has rocked the U.S. church for the last two years. The much-anticipated report said that bishops have made significant progress in implementing "zero tolerance" regulations as required under a national church charter on sexual abuse adopted in June 2002.

In the latest attempt to repair damage caused by the Roman Catholic sexual abuse scandal, Bishop Tod D. Brown on Thursday unveiled a "historic new covenant" to foster an era of honesty, humility and power sharing within the Orange County diocese. He also dedicated the coming Lenten season to expressing remorse for the church's sins and praying for sexual abuse victims and their families.

Turning to an ancient method of public notice, Bishop Tod D. Brown on Sunday nailed to the doors of Holy Family Cathedral a document proclaiming a commitment by the Diocese of Orange to help heal the wounds caused by the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal.

A panel of scientists and psychiatrists, in a long-awaited report released Monday, offered recommendations for preventing the sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests but emphatically rejected the U.S. church's "zero-tolerance" policy of defrocking offenders. The policy can discourage abusive clerics from seeking help or recklessly unleash pedophiles into society once they are ousted from the church, the report said.

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, recently criticized by a national Catholic panel for his legal tactics in sexual abuse cases, received a vote of confidence this week from the Los Angeles Council of Priests, an elected body representing the Roman Catholic archdiocese's 850 clergymen.

Moving to assert control over three breakaway parishes, the Episcopal bishop of Los Angeles on Friday appointed two assistant bishops to serve the congregations and said he would appoint new lay governing boards. The move by the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, communicated in letters dated Sept. 1 but delivered Friday, escalated what probably will be a protracted legal battle over ownership of the parish property and Bruno's jurisdiction over the breakaway priests.

After months of resistance and round-the-clock vigils at several churches, archdiocese officials Tuesday reversed a decision to close one parish, and will reevaluate four other planned closings. Archbishop Sean Patrick O'Malley's decision to shutter or consolidate 83 churches by year's end came in response to declining attendance, a shortage of priests and financial pressure caused in part by the clergy sex abuse crisis.