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St. Louis Archdiocese Enacts New Abuse Policy

By Kevin Lavery, KWMU

St. Louis, MO – The Archdiocese of St. Louis today issued a revised policy for dealing with sexual abuse. The revisions bring the policy in line with what both the Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops say on the issue.

One key change to the archdiocesan policy provides a means to address sexual abuse allegations levied against non-clergy personnel. Deacon Phil Hengen says another revision includes the appointment of a review team to investigate abuse allegations, "We wanted to bring several minds to bear on trying to wade through sometimes some pretty murky reports so that we can arrive at some truth and some way to help."

The revisions were announced one day after a St. Louis woman filed a civil suit against a former nun for alleged sexual abuse. Hengen says there's no connection between the two events.

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