Third-party reporting system of sexual allegations may start in February

BALTIMORE (CNS) — A third-party reporting system to field sexual misconduct allegations against bishops could be in place by the end of February, an official of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told the bishops during their fall general assembly in Baltimore.

The company awarded the contract for the system is working quickly to implement it so that it is in place well before the May 31, 2020, deadline set by Pope Francis, said Anthony Picarello, USCCB associate general secretary, in a Nov. 13 presentation to the bishops on the final day of their three-day meeting.

The precise date a toll-free hotline will be activated and links on diocesan and eparchial websites and the USCCB website will go live will depend on how quickly each diocese or eparchy can implement the program, Picarello said, adding that the exact date the system will be ready will be communicated with each province, diocese and eparchy.

Complaints will be filtered so that only those concerns raised in Pope Francis’ “motu proprio” “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (“You are the light of the world”) will be addressed through the new mechanism, Picarello said.

“The idea is we want to make sure this system is reserved for this specific, this high-priority purpose,” Picarello told the bishops.

Issued in May, the pope’s document specifically addresses allegations of sexual misconduct and other accusations of actions or omissions intended to interfere with or avoid civil or Church investigations of such misconduct by clergy.

The bishops approved the establishment of the reporting system in June. Under it, people would be allowed to make reports of “certain complaints” through a toll-free telephone number as well as online.

The USCCB plan calls for all reports to be funneled through a central receiving hub, which would then be responsible for sending allegations to the appropriate metropolitan, or archbishop, responsible for each diocese in a province and to the papal nunciature in Washington. The U.S. has 32 metropolitans.

The metropolitan will be responsible for reporting any allegation to local law enforcement authorities as the first step toward investigating a claim.

The reporting system will be subject to review to determine its effectiveness in three years, as called for under “Vos Estis Lux Mundi.”