Support group asks Catholic bishops to hold open-door summit

DENVER – A national support group for people molested by priests called Friday for U.S. Roman Catholic bishops to open their closed-door summit in Colorado next week.

The group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, also pushed for new membership on the board overseeing reforms in the wake of the clergy-abuse scandal.

“The gulf between what bishops say publicly and how they act privately . . . we believe that gulf has never been greater,” said David Clohessy, national director of the organization.

The news conference was the first of several expected to coincide with the high-profile spiritual retreat by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Englewood. The retreat begins Monday.

Monsignor Francis Maniscalco, spokesman for the bishops’ conference, said the summit was planned five years ago as a closed-door spiritual assembly. He said only a few pieces of business are on the agenda and that a full discussion of the abuse-prevention policy will take place later.