After over 300 priests were dismissed due to allegations of child molestation, the Catholic Church has set out to revise its policy on abuse, with the hope of ensuring not only the rights of the accuser, but also those of the accused priest.Church leaders are revising a policy that was originally drafted during a June meeting in Dallas, Texas. The Vatican rejected the original plan as it did not provide due process for priests.

According to CNN.com, the new version calls for tribunals to review cases before any kind of action is taken against the accused priest, and it also emphasizes the importance of bishops in determining sanctions.

The plan calls for an initial investigation into allegations. During that time, the priest would be placed on administrative leave. If allegations are found to be true, sanctions, which could be as severe as being defrocked by the pope, would be applied.

In cases that involve children, civil authorities would be immediately notified. Church officials hope that the revised procedures will help restore credibility to the clergy.

Critics of the new policy are questioning how the policy will allow priests who claim to have changed their ways to remain in a position that has no contact with children. In addition, they also question how the policy will deal with bishops who mishandle cases of abuse.

The Rev. Thomas Doran, bishop of Rockville, Illinois, who helped write the revised policy, predicted it would help restore some of the trust lost during the scandal. “We will now be fairly able to restore the confidence of the people in all their priests, and to root out this terrible thing which has upset the traditional relationship that has existed between our people and ourselves,” said Doran (cnn.com).

Guilford history professor Jeff Vanke feels that clergy are getting too much protection under the new guidelines.

“The new policy by the Roman Catholic bishops in the U.S. seems worse than the previously rejected proposal,” he said. “The change is supposed to protect clergy against confabulated charges, which is a laudable aim. There are other ways to allow such protection than by leaving accused clergy in the same positions they are allegedly abusing, or shifting them to similar positions elsewhere.”

Sophomore Katrina Weintraub had a similar viewpoint about the situation “It’s really a bad idea,” she said. “If you have teachers who are accused of sexual misconduct, they are removed from their position immediately until the situation is resolved. There is no difference here.