Vatican deliberate US strategy to eradicate sex abuse

THE Vatican next month will make known its position on US bishops' new strategy to eradicate sex abuse among clergy, a policy expected to raise objections at the Holy See.

The Vatican press office on Sunday said it would not comment about a report by the National Catholic Reporter, a liberal, US-based publication, that the Vatican would not grant legal approval to guidelines, adopted in June at a Dallas meeting of US bishops.

Without Rome's approval, the bishops' policy amounts to a gentlemen's agreement, as opposed to being enshrined in church law and binding on all American dioceses.

The report on Saturday was similar to a recent spate of other articles quoting unnamed sources as saying that the Holy See has several problems with the guidelines, especially those which deal with the protection of priests who have been falsely accused of sexually abusing minors.

On Sunday, the Vatican pointed out what its spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, said last month after a similar report in the media.

At that time, Navarro-Valls said that the issue was still under study and that no decision had been taken. He said that the Vatican would give its response to US bishops soon.