Voice of the Faithful® has maintained for years that one of the serious flaws preventing the U.S. Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People from being effective is lack of accountability for bishops. Bishop accountability, specifically the stipulation of disciplinary action for charter violations, for example, was key among the recommendations VOTF made when meeting in February 2011 with Diane Knight, then chair of the USCCB National Review Board, and Teresa Kettelkamp, then Executive Director of the USCCB Office for the Protection of Children and Young People. VOTF reiterated those recommendations in April 2011, as the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was expanding. Now, Al Notzon, present Chairman of the USCCB’s National Review Board will soon bring bishop accountability before his board, according to a recent National Catholic Reporter article.

Kansas City Bishop’s Guilty Verdict Raises National Questions

“The conviction last week of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., Bishop Robert Finn for failing to report suspected child abuse indicates that “clearly there is a problem” with how the procedures adopted by the U.S. church to protect children are being used, a key adviser to the U.S. bishops on the issue said Monday (Sept. 10, 2012).

“Central to that problem, said Al Notzon III, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ National Review Board for clergy sex abuse, is the question of accountability for bishops who do not comply with the norms and conditions the body of bishops agreed to 10 years ago. The procedures are spelled out in the U.S. bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

“One of Notzon’s predecessors on the review board, Judge Michael Merz, called the Finn case “a serious embarrassment to the church.”

“How can you continue to preach that the charter is effective if, in fact, these types of things continue to happen?” Merz asked.

“Notzon told NCR on Monday he planned to bring up the problem with the full review board, then make recommendations to the U.S. bishops.” Quotes from article by Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter