Episcopal leaders taking steps to address sex abuse by clergy

Monday, August 02, 2010
By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When former Episcopal Bishop Donald Davis of Erie was accused of child molestation in 1994, he resigned so quietly from ministry that most other bishops didn't know why. It was the same year that an Episcopal bishop who had admitted molesting a minor was reinstated after a year's leave.

Since then, church laws have been changed to make it easier to remove offenders. Church leaders praise Erie's current Bishop Sean Rowe for publicizing new accusations last month against his now-deceased predecessor.

But victim advocates say that church law still allows offenders in ministry. the rest