US bishops 90% compliant with abuse prevention plan
However, critics said the study was fundamentally flawed.
The review found 90% of the 195 US dioceses were complying with the plan, which dictates how guilty priests should be punished and requires bishops to take steps to protect children.
The prelates commissioned the report from the Gavin Group of Boston, a firm led by an ex-FBI official, and the audit was overseen by Kathleen McChesney, an ex-FBI agent and head of the bishops’ watchdog Office of Child and Youth Protection.
Victim advocates said bishops had too much control of how the audit was conducted, so it should be viewed sceptically.
“This is the bishops grading themselves based on a test they devised,” said Peter Isely, of the Midwest chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “I don’t think anyone is going to be too surprised that after years of chronic failure they are now going to tell us they have miraculously become star performers.”
McChesney defended the audit, saying investigators spoke with people outside the church.
