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A retired Scranton bishop who allegedly helped cover up decades of sex abuse cases defied the diocese and attended a national Catholic conference at which U.S. bishops were considering new steps to address the abuse crisis in the American church.

Bishop Emeritus James Timlin, permanently banned from representing the diocese, attended the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ general assembly in Baltimore against the wishes of current Bishop Joseph Bambera, a diocesan official confirmed Monday night.

“While Bishop Timlin is forbidden from representing the Diocese of Scranton, membership in the USCCB and attendance at conferences is beyond the control of Bishop Bambera,” spokesman Bill Genello wrote in a brief email to the Times Leader on Monday night.

As first reported by the Times Leader, Timlin appeared in an Associated Press photo riding an escalator with other clerics at the gathering.

“Bishop Bambera asked Bishop Timlin not to attend,” Genello concluded.

Timlin, 91, led the diocese from 1984 to 2003. He has not been made available for interviews since this summer’s release of statewide grand jury report on clerical abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses cited records showing that he had knowledge of more than two dozen cases before and during his nearly 20-year tenure.

Efforts to reach a USCCB spokesperson to inquire about Timlin’s role — and whether he has any voting rights — were not immediately successful.

Abuse vote postponed

The event’s first day made national headlines as the group abruptly postponed plans to vote on proposed new steps to address the clergy sex abuse crisis — at the Vatican’s insistence, the Associated Press reported.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was told on the eve of the meeting to delay action until after a Vatican-convened global meeting on sex abuse in February, the AP added.

“We are not ourselves happy about this,” DiNardo told reporters in an unusual public display of frustration at a Vatican pronouncement.

“We are working very hard to move to action — and we’ll do it,” he said. “I think people in the church have a right to be skeptical. I think they also have a right to be hopeful.”

Timlin’s history

Timlin was thrust into the spotlight when the grand jury report was released in August. It detailed decades of abuse and cover-up, alleging more than 1,000 children had been abused over the years by about 300 priests, with 59 Scranton Diocese priests on the list.

In numerous cases, the allegations of abuse — including rape, sexual assault, underage drinking and an abortion — were suppressed or dismissed by Timlin, the grand jury found.

Many of those cases were detailed in an August report by the Times Leader, including one in which Timlin wrote a letter to the Vatican on behalf of a Luzerne County priest, The Rev. Thomas D. Skotek, who impregnated a teenage girl and then helped her obtain an abortion.

The grand jury uncovered records indicating that Timlin frequently did not take formal action against accused priests, or simply moved them to other parishes.

Skotek was not formally removed from ministry for nearly 20 years after the incident, being allowed to continue in his vocation long after Timlin was first informed; he never faced prosecution and remains a priest.

In late August, Bambera announced that Timlin has been permanently restricted from representing the Diocese of Scranton at all public events, “liturgical or otherwise.”

“It is important that I make this very clear: Bishop Timlin did not abuse children, nor has he ever been accused of having done so. Instead, he mishandled some cases of abuse,” Bambera said then.

“He presided over the Diocese of Scranton for nearly 20 years — a time in which the diocese fell short of its duty to protect children. And, in many of the cases detailed in the grand jury report, Bishop Timlin fell short, too,” Bambera’s statement continued, adding that he would refer Timlin’s case to Rome.

There has been no public word on the status of that referral since.

Outrage on many fronts

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has been a critic of the church’s reaction to the allegations, including initial attempts to block release of information in the grand jury report.

When he released the report in August, a visibly disturbed Shapiro read an excerpt from Timlin’s letter on behalf of Skotek, although he did not specifically mention the former bishop by name.

On Monday, Shapiro took to social media in response to larger events at the USCCB assembly.

“As I’ve said many times…the Catholic Church can not be trusted to police itself,” Shapiro tweeted. “They’ve failed for decades to protect children from predator priests and the bishops who enable the abuse. Proper oversight requires law enforcement and outside agencies.”

The bishops are meeting through Wednesday and had been expected to consider several steps to combat abuse, the Associated Press reported, including a new code of conduct for themselves and the creation of a special commission, including lay experts, to review complaints against the bishops.

Their plan to proceed with discussing these proposals, which were drafted in September by the bishops’ Administrative Committee. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, of Chicago, suggested the bishops could hold a non-binding vote on the proposals while in Baltimore and then convene a special assembly for a formal vote after considering the results of the global meeting in February.

DiNardo said the bishops didn’t complete a final draft of their proposed anti-abuse actions until Oct. 30 and the Vatican, with relatively short notice, sought to delay voting because of potential legal complications.

Outside the conference hall, news of the delay in voting angered some protesters who were demanding the bishops take strong action against abuse.

“I know that they answer to the Holy See, but there’s a bigger imperative here, which is that children and victims need them to step forward,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, who works at the abuse database BishopAccountability.org. “By complying so meekly with what the pope has demanded of them today, they are surrendering their responsibility.”

Associated Press reporters David McFadden and David Crary contributed to this report.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, prepares to lead the USCCB’s annual fall meeting on Monday in Baltimore.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_121651634-49966bdddebd430c9881ff86a5d3976f-4.jpg.optimal.jpgCardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, prepares to lead the USCCB’s annual fall meeting on Monday in Baltimore.

Former Scranton Bishop James Timlin, front, and members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ride an escalator during a break in sessions at the USCCB’s annual fall meeting on Monday in Baltimore.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_121651634-6ba65b63b2094d7786e870004a4c60e3-4.jpg.optimal.jpgFormer Scranton Bishop James Timlin, front, and members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ride an escalator during a break in sessions at the USCCB’s annual fall meeting on Monday in Baltimore. Patrick Semansky | AP photo
Bambera asked him not to attend

By Roger DuPuis

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