VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican approved the revised U.S. bishop's policy on sex abuse within the clergy Dec. 16, pledging to "combat and to prevent such evil," according to The Associated Press.
In a letter from Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re and Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Re stressed that the Vatican will not tolerate sex abuse crimes against children.
The letter affirmed "the Holy See's aversion to this betrayal of the trust which the faithful rightly place in Christ's ministers, and to ensure that the guilty will be appropriately punished."
The Vatican's announcement came three days after the pope accepted the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law as Boston archbishop. He had been under mounting fire for his mishandling of sex abuses in his archdiocese.
The bishops drafted a set of rules against sex abuse at a meeting in Dallas in June, but the Vatican refused to give its approval, saying that some regulations contrasted with universal Church law.
The Vatican was concerned about priests receiving due protection and about the statute of limitations. This led to a meeting at the Vatican in November with U.S. Church officials to iron out their differences. The revised plan was then approved by the bishops conference and awaited the Dec. 16 announcement.
