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Penalties for paedophile priests

New York June 5. After being mired in scandal for months, U.S. Roman Catholic Church leaders have released a list of proposals for punishing priests who abuse children, including immediate dismissal by the Vatican, while stopping short of advocating a zero-tolerance policy.

The proposals, released yesterday, were drafted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in response to the child sex scandal that has engulfed the Church in recent months.

They will be debated and voted on during a special bishops' meeting in Dallas, Texas, next week.

According to a copy of the draft policy posted on the conference's website, the Bishops are suggesting Pope John Paul II be asked to defrock every priest who sexually abuses a minor in the future, as well as any priest who has abused more than one minor in the past.

— AFP

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