Sexually abusive priests to escape expulsion

LEADERS of Roman Catholic religious orders in the US have decided sexually abusive priests should be kept away from children but not expelled, a less restrictive plan than the zero-tolerance policy bishops had adopted.

Victim advocates criticised the plan, saying it gives orders too much freedom in disciplining guilty priests. They also noted the policy was not mandatory, since the conference does not have the authority to make the plan binding.

The Conference of Major Superiors of Men, an association of heads of groups such as Bendictines and Jesuits, also acknowledged their members had sometimes failed to sufficiently discipline errant clergy in the past.