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.