ORLANDO, Florida (LifeSiteNews) — The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) overwhelmingly approved a revised version of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (CPCYP) during its Spring Plenary Assembly last week.

On June 11, the second day of the conference’s Spring Assembly, the USCCB voted 176-22, with six bishops abstaining, to approve the revisions to the “Dallas Charter,” which was originally created in 2002 to help prevent clerical abuse and hold clerics who have committed abuse accountable.

The revisions to the Charter, which have not yet been officially published, include a new emphasis on the right of accused priests to the presumption of innocence, allows for electronic letters of suitability to verify priests’ good standing, an added reference to the protection of information that falls under the seal of confession, and the integration of recommendations of Pope Francis’ motu proprio Vos Estis Lux Mundi such as identifying mandatory Church reporters.

“This was … our best effort to make sure (the Charter) was adapted to some of the developments and circumstances of the present,” Bishop Barry Knestout of the Diocese of Richmond, who serves as the chairman of the Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, told EWTN News after the vote.

“So it can function as the guide for our ongoing work in caring for and making sure that we are providing safeguarding for children and young people within our diocese and do it in a good way that is respectful of the role of priests,” he added.

READ: Bp. Eleganti: Church can’t address abuse crisis until it confronts homosexuality in the clergy

However, several bishops, including Archbishop Shawn McKnight of Kansas City, Kansas, objected to the Charter’s revisions, arguing that they leave the Charter limited to children and young people while excluding adults who have been abused and fail to address the episcopal cover-up of abuse.

McKnight motioned to postpone the vote on these revisions until the USCCB’s next assembly in November, allowing time for the bishops to consult with their dioceses. The archbishop’s motion ultimately failed by a vote of 126-73 with five bishops abstaining.

Bishop Earl Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, agreed with McKnight, arguing before the vote that the conference would not “lose very much by delaying” the vote and taking the time to ensure each presbyteral council is “sufficiently consulted.”

“There has been quite a bit of consultation already,” Knestout contended. “I am not sure whatʼs gained through the additional time other than … an opportunity for some dioceses and presbyterates to look at this again.”

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, stressed his belief to EWTN News after the vote that not including adult survivors of abuse in the text of the Charter’s revisions doesn’t mean the bishops don’t consider it an important issue but that there are “other avenues” to address that issue.

“It should be an entirely separate process, and in my experience, it has been good to have that as a separate process,” the bishop said.

The USCCB has come under fire for decades for allegations of covering up sexual abuse. A bombshell 2019 investigation conducted by the Associated Press (AP) found that nearly 1,700 American clerics credibly accused of sexually abusing children had been living under the radar with little to no oversight from the hierarchy or law enforcement.

More recently, in 2025, Rachel Mastrogiacomo, a survivor of clerical ritual abuse, wrote an open letter to President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and each of the Catholic senators and members of Congress, calling their attention to the bishops’ alleged cover-up of abuse and aiding of illegal immigration.

READ: Rachel Mastrogiacomo calls attention to clergy sex abuse in letter to Trump, Vance, legislators