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The policy, put together because of a sex scandal that has shaken the Church to its core and forced a summit with the Pope, drew sharp criticism from victims. Many had called for a zero tolerance policy that would oust all abusers. The plan is intended to be binding on the 178 dioceses across the country. It represents a major shift from the voluntary discipline guidelines the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has relied on for years, though it needs Vatican approval to become binding. The prelates stood and applauded after they approved the policy on a 239-13 vote on Friday by secret ballot. ``From this day forward, no one known to have sexually abused a child will work in the Catholic Church in the United States,'' said Bishop Wilton Gregory, the conference president. He also apologised for ``our tragically slow response in recognising the horror'' of sexual abuse. To the people hurt most by sexual predators in the clergy — victims — the new policy doesn't go far enough. ``There's no accountability,'' said Cyndi Desrosiers, a victim from Maine. ``They again are handling this amongst the ranks.'' Under the plan, abusers past and future will technically remain priests, but they will be prohibited from any work connected to the Church. ``He will not be permitted to celebrate Mass publicly, to wear clerical garb or to present himself publicly as a priest,'' says the policy. Abusers still can be defrocked — removed from the priesthood — but it would be up to the presiding bishop, acting on the advice of an advisory board comprised mainly of lay people. The policy, which is to be reviewed in two years, says if some abusers are not removed from the priesthood because of ``advanced age or infirmity,'' they are to lead ``a life of prayer and penance.'' ``It'll puzzle many Americans and some American Catholics and it's not the full measure that some victims were calling for,'' said Chester Gillis, a theology professor at Georgetown University. In a new development, the Omaha Archdiocese in Nebraska was ordered to pay $ 800,000 in damages to a former altar boy and his mother following a civil verdict involving a priest who has already been convicted of sexual assault and making child pornography. A jury awarded the damages on Friday after a two-week trial. — AP Telegraph reports from London: The Catholic Church in England and Wales faces a potential raft of claims from the victims of paedophile priests after the High Court allowed a former altar boy to sue for alleged abuse that began more than 20 years ago. Lawyers said the ruling, in the first case of its kind, could cost the Church millions of pounds. Simon Grey (36), from Leicester, sued the Archbishop of Birmingham and the trustees of the Birmingham Archdiocese over the alleged activities of a priest who fled the country in 1992. The archdiocese was ordered to pay £ 30,000 on account of his legal costs. Church officials said they had been under a duty to test the law before settling claims. Mr Grey's solicitor, John Housden, said he was acting for three more alleged victims of the same priest.
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