EASTON, Mass. — Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, who heads the U.S. Bishops’ National Review Board on Clergy Sexual Abuse, probably didn't intend to dismiss the authority of Pope John Paul II and the Vatican after a recent speech, says Msgr. Francis Maniscalco, director of communications for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“Knowing what kind of a Catholic he is, I really don't believe that's what he meant,” Msgr. Maniscalco said.

After giving a speech Oct. 4 at Regis College, a Catholic women's school located just outside Boston in Easton, Mass., Keating was asked what would happen if the Vatican did not fully approve the sexual-abuse policy devised by American bishops at their June meeting in Dallas.

“Whatever Rome does, we're still alive,” Keating told the Boston Globe. “Whatever Rome does, we intend to implement the charter.”

The dismissive reference to the authority of the Vatican is the latest in a series of controversial statements and sound bites by Keating, who was appointed by the U.S. bishops conference in June to monitor implementation of its new policy. Much of the policy, which would invoke particular law on U.S. prelates and mandate specific punishments for offending priests, must be approved by Rome before it becomes official policy.

Keating's Rome comment came after a speech rife with statements challenging the authority of Church hierarchy. In his Regis College remarks, he also criticized a decision by a Boston auxiliary bishop to ban Voice of the Faithful — a dissentdriven organization that says the Church needs to be restructured — from meeting in a North Andover, Mass., parish.

In the same speech, Keating repeated controversial advice he gave to the laity this summer. Keating said anyone who is displeased with the way a prelate handles sexual-abuse accusations should attend Mass in another diocese. Furthermore, Keating said, the faithful should stop writing checks if they disapprove of a bishop's handling of sexual-abuse cases.

‘Adversarial’ Panel

Msgr. Maniscalco said Keating's comments have given rise to concern among some Catholics, who have contacted the conference to ask about the statements or to express concerns. Among the outraged is Jeff Miller of Jacksonville, Fla., who operates a Catholic blog site on the Internet.

“His statements have reflected an ‘us-against-them’ philosophy, lay against clerics,” Miller said. “He has moved from head of an advisory panel to head of an adversarial panel.”

Msgr. Maniscalco said Catholics must be careful not to confuse Keating's sound bites as official words from the conference of bishops. He doubts many Catholics have a hard time making a distinction between Keating's statements and Church doctrine or official stands of the conference of bishops.

For example, Msgr. Maniscalco said, few people would mistake Keating's advice about attending Mass in another diocese as anything other than the governor's personal advice.

“I think people know the bishops would advise them to support their local Church,” Msgr. Maniscalco said. “They know that Gov. Keating is expressing what he might do in that circumstance, rather than what he would expect all Catholics to do.”

In his Regis College speech, however, Keating was clearly trying to encourage disenfranchised Catholics to take action by withholding donations and worshipping elsewhere.

“If a bishop basically said ‘pound sand,’ then what do we do?” Keating asked rhetorically, addressing a hypothetical circumstance in which a bishop failed to implement the sexual-abuse policy. “We vote with our pocketbook and our feet, and we go elsewhere.”

Keating did not return calls to the Register regarding his comments about implementing the charter despite whatever decision comes down from Rome. Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville, Ill., president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, was away and unavailable for comment when the Register contacted his office.

“I think what [Keating] meant is that there's much in there [the sexual-abuse policy] that can be carried out even if the Holy See doesn't make it particular law or doesn't accept certain aspects of it,” Msgr. Maniscalco said. “There are certain parts of the charter that are discretionary to the U.S. bishops and their pastoral governance of the Church. So that's what he was talking about. What most needs approval of the Vatican are those aspects of the policy that involve penalties for priests.”

Rome will also have to approve the establishment of sexual abuse review boards in every diocese, which involves implementation of particular law in the United States.

“If Rome didn't grant the review boards this particular law, it would mean they would not be required,” Msgr. Maniscalco said. “But the individual bishops could put them into action voluntarily. Anything that isn't mandated by Rome could still be done as a matter of choice by bishops, and that's what Gov. Keating was trying to get across.”

Removing Bishops

After the announcement of his appointment in Dallas, Keating said he would seek ways to have bishops removed from authority should they be found to have mishandled past complaints about sexual abuse.

“That's not the work of the board that Gov. Keating heads,” Msgr. Maniscalco said. “Again, that might be something he personally would take on, but that's not the work of the board. Gov. Keating has worked very responsibly to bring about an effective board to help with compliance of the charter.

“I think sometimes when the media insist on bringing up the issues they like to bring up, you see these kinds of statements. But when you see him working with his board, I see someone who is very effective in trying to bring about the situation that board was established for, which is to see that the bishops are getting compliance with the charter.”

In June, and again during his Regis College speech, Keating expressed outrage at the way Cardinal Bernard Law, Boston archbishop, handled past sexual-abuse cases that became media spectacles last spring. Despite that, and despite his criticism of the decision to ban Voice of the Faithful, the Boston Archdiocese is officially pleased with Keating's performance.

“Gov. Keating has the right, as does anyone, to voice his own opinion,” said Donna Morrissey, Cabinet secretary of communication for the Archdiocese of Boston.

Support for Dissenters

Certainly he has the right, acknowledges Miller. But Miller says it was unwise for Keating — considering his position of authority — to defend Voice of the Faithful as an organization worthy of accommodation by the Church.

Several bishops have banned Voice of the Faithful meetings from taking place on Church property, due to the prominent place the group has given to individuals and groups that dissent openly from Church teachings. At a Boston Voice of the Faithful regional meeting in July, for example, the list of invited speakers included proponents of women's ordination and opponents of Catholic teachings on sexuality, along with Debra Haffner, former director of counseling, education and public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington.

In a July 20 press release, C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, said, “What we are witnessing here today is the cynical exploitation of a tragedy by dissidents with an agenda. When an organization which purports to be Catholic has a speaker affiliated with Planned Parenthood, it tells us all we need to know about its alleged Catholic credentials. The presence of Debra Haffner, along with representatives of the Women's Ordination Conference, CORPUS and Call to Action makes a mockery of VOTF's pretentions to be Catholic.”

Given Voice of the Faithful's outlook, Miller said Keating was wrong to criticize Church leaders for barring the dissent-dominated group.

“True debate in the context of Church teaching can be beneficial, but Voice of the Faithful does not truly speak to this context, regardless of public statements made to the contrary,” Miller said.

Miller concluded, “All of this only goes to further prove G.K. Chesterton's maxim: ‘The reformer is always right about what is wrong. He is generally wrong about what is right.’”

Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.