Bishop Lori was one of four U.S. bishops who met with Vatican officials last month to hear Rome's misgivings about the group's tough policies, which were adopted at its June meeting in Dallas.
Known as the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the policy obligates diocesan bishops to promptly remove from ministry any priest or deacon who ever abused a minor, no matter how long ago.
It also requires all dioceses to create lay review boards to consider an accused cleric's fitness to remain in ministry. Such a board would then issue periodic assessments of how well a diocese is handling abuse cases.
For the charter to win Vatican approval, however, the bishops had to rewrite it in formal, legal language and submit it to Rome for review. Last month, after the review was completed, the Vatican complained that the formal document, known as Essential Norms, was "imprecise" in parts; failed to protect the rights of accused priests; and did not fully harmonize with church law.
Victims' groups quickly voiced alarm that the Vatican was seeking to "dilute" or "soften" the Dallas policy.
Those concerns continued yesterday, as protesters outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where the bishops' meeting is being held, marched with placards that depicted alleged victims of abuse by priests.
"Their agenda here is to say: 'We're done. We have nice words on paper. We're moving forward,' " said David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests. The victims' advocates have pointed out, for example, that the Vatican wants Essential Norms to include a statute of limitations on sex-abuse charges that makes the document conform with church law - which says an abuse victim must bring charges by his or her 28th birthday.
