NEW HAMPSHIRE Bishop John McCormack released a revised policy against sexual misconduct in the Catholic church yesterday that bars guilty priests from ministry, requires background checks on staff and lets the laity police the church’s response to allegations. McCormack also issued a new code of conduct for priests and others in the church that instructs priests to live celibate lives and refrain from being alone in private places with children. “Sharing in the ministry of Christ not only is a great privilege for us but also a profound responsibility,” McCormack wrote yesterday. “We are to conduct ourselves in a spirit and manner that allows Christ to act and speak through our work.” The new policies are almost entirely the work of a 12-person task force of Catholics and Protestants who McCormack asked last year to help evaluate the church’s handling of clergy sexual abuse. McCormack called together the task force in response to the clergy sexual abuse scandal, and many Catholics doubted that McCormack would embrace the group’s findings once the media spotlight had died down. Donna Sytek of Salem, chairwoman of the task force, saw the new policy last week and said yesterday that each of the group’s recommendations has been adopted. “We are pleased and satisfied that we were listened to,” she said. Those changes must be enforced to be effective, she said, but Sytek said she believes they will be.
Concord Monitor
By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
Monitor staff
Uncategorized
Diocese adopts strict sexual misconduct policy
Tags: Abuse Tracker
More News
Opinion | Are Donald Trump and Elon Musk BFFs or headed for a split?
A prominent biographer and a leading tech journalist have both warned that Musk should not expect the bromance to last
November 12, 2024
A columnist learned of holes in Massachusetts’ right-to-shelter law. So she showed the human consequences.
The state’s right-to-shelter law is supposed to help homeless families. The Boston Globe’s Yvonne Abraham laid bare its many challenges.
November 12, 2024
Does fluoride cause cancer, IQ loss and more? Fact-checking Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claim
Longtime research has shown that drinking fluoridated water at the recommended levels in the US is safe and beneficial for oral health
November 12, 2024
Opinion | Press freedom groups share grim warnings about a second Donald Trump administration
The Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and Freedom of the Press Foundation have all raised concerns about the next 4 years
November 11, 2024
Russian influence operations intensified ahead of Election Day. Officials expect it to continue.
The US government responded swiftly to election falsehoods. But experts said the threat of foreign influence operations was unlikely to end soon.
November 11, 2024