WASHINGTON – A panel of Roman Catholic bishops called Tuesday for a zero-tolerance policy against priests who molest children in the future and a two-strikes-you’re-out policy for those guilty of past abuse, acknowledging “enormous pain” over scandal in the church.

Clergymen who molested a child once in the past could continue serving a parish under certain conditions, such as if they undergo counseling and agree to public disclosure of their misconduct, the bishops said in a proposed national policy.

All abuse would have to be reported to civil authorities.

The Rev. Joseph J. Gerry, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, reacted positively to the draft proposal Tuesday, according to Sue Bernard, spokeswoman for the diocese. The bishop felt the proposal adequately dealt with “what’s going on here in Maine,” Bernard said.

Three priests, the Revs. John Audibert, Michael Doucete and Leo Michaud, have been removed from Maine parishes under a church policy which disqualifies a priest from active ministry if he is subject to a “credible allegation” of sexual abuse. Gerry instituted the zero-tolerance policy this spring.

The report by the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse will be put to a vote when bishops from around the country meet June 13-15 in Dallas. Archbishop Harry Flynn, who led the panel, said the proposal would undergo extensive revisions before the June meeting to incorporate opinions from other bishops.

“The committee had its most challenging debate with regard to priests with past acts of sexual abuse,” Flynn said. “We are deeply sympathetic to the feelings of victims/survivors who have experienced years of suffering due to sexual abuse, but treatment and the power of Christian conversion (redemption) have made a difference in some cases.”

The Rev. Thomas Doyle, one of the most active priests in aiding victims, said the document’s contrition “is certainly extraordinary.”

But “there have been so many promises made,” he cautioned. If even one or two bishops continue to treat victims with hostility, “that will blow the bottom out of any credibility they wish to restore,” Doyle said.

At least 225 of the nation’s more than 46,000 Roman Catholic priests have either been dismissed from their duties or have resigned since the scandal began in January.

The document did not say the bishops would seek Vatican authorization to make the policy binding on each diocese. However, Flynn said the Holy See would be asked to review the plan and approve whatever changes may be needed in church law specific to the United States.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops already has guidelines for responding to molestation claims, but compliance is voluntary because each diocese reports to the Vatican – not the national bishops’ organization.

Flynn said the latest proposal calls for national and local audits of how dioceses have responded to abuse claims, and that would ensure compliance. He said no bishop would dare to violate the policy in this atmosphere of crisis.

“Public disclosure would be sanction enough,” said Flynn, archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. “Once whatever is passed is passed in Dallas, I can’t imagine any bishop would say, ‘I will not follow that.”‘

A senior Vatican official, who asked that his name not be used, said Rome was not preparing a public response to the committee’s plan, but will await decisions by the full assembly of bishops in Dallas.

The report leaves the bishops open to criticism from those who want a sweeping removal of all abusers, past and future. But the plan did contain apologies to victims and emphasizes the bishops’ commitment to reform.

“The sexual abuse of children and young people by some priests and bishops, and the ways in which these crimes and sins were too often dealt with by bishops, have caused enormous pain, anger and confusion,” the panel wrote.

“We are profoundly sorry for the times when we have deepened its pain by what we have done or by what we have failed to do.”

The Vatican would be asked to swiftly defrock any child abuser in the future and all offenders with more than one transgression in the past. Currently, defrocking involves cumbersome appeals, and U.S. bishops for years have been asking Rome to streamline the process.

If approved, the policy would impact 33 Maine priests – 25 who are diocesan priests and eight who are members of religious orders – who have been accused of sexually molesting minors. None of them is currently active in the Diocese of Portland.

If approved by the bishops in Dallas, according to Bernard, spokeswoman for the diocese, those who have admitted abusing minors or who have more than one substantiated accusation made against them could be defrocked. They then would be ineligible to reside in diocesan-owned property or receive health or other benefits they have received as inactive or retired priests.

Monsignor Francis Maniscalco, a spokesman for the bishops’ conference, said he understood “future” to mean all cases reported after this month, even if the alleged abuse occurred in the past.

For priests accused of just one offense in the past, a diocesan review board – comprised mainly of lay people – would determine whether the cleric would return to public ministry.

That provision might appease Catholics in the St. John Valley. Parishioners at churches in St. Agatha and Madawaska criticized the way Gerry handled the removal of priests from their parishes. They said that it left no room for forgiveness, a major tenet of Christianity.

If the board concluded the one-time offender did not meet certain criteria, he would remain a priest but would not return to public ministry and would not be allowed to wear the priest’s collar or celebrate Mass in public.

Dioceses also would commit to openness regarding clerical misconduct.

Bishops would no longer enter into confidentiality agreements when settling civil lawsuits unless the victim insists. Such agreements have been common in the hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements that dioceses have paid since the 1980s.

“Let the sun shine in,” Flynn said. “There should be no secretiveness.”

Church leaders should provide a complete description of a priest’s personnel record if the cleric seeks to transfer to another diocese, it said.

The proposal also includes creating a national child protection office. The president of the conference would appoint a review board – including parents – to examine annually how dioceses were responding to abuse, and bishops would create support programs for victims in each diocese.

Still, the committee did not address concerns about how much dioceses have paid and where they found the money.