A series of letters between bishops and the lay board appointed to oversee the church's response to the sexual abuse crisis has been published by the National Catholic Reporter.

A series of letters between bishops and the lay board appointed to oversee the church's response to the sexual abuse crisis has been published by the National Catholic Reporter. The letters reveal serious dissatisfaction by the board with the bishops' decision to delay a second round of diocesan audits until after November. Anne Burke, the chair of the lay board, said the board felt "manipulated.... We are very disheartened by this apparent decision to go back to 'business as usual.' A decision to backslide on the Charter and Norms--and it is hard to see the decision to delay matters until November as anything else--will delay the necessary healing and reopen the wounds of deception, manipulation and control--all the false ideals that produced this scandal." Denver's Archbishop Charles J. Chaput and Auxiliary Bishop Jose H. Gomez, responded, "Your language is designed to offend and contains implicit threats that are, to put it mildly, inappropriate for anyone of your professional stature." The US bishops' conference backed down from its original decision at its June retreat and voted by a 207-14 majority to approve a second round of audits.