Roman Catholic bishops in the US have drawn up a national proposal on disciplining priests who molest children.
The plan, put together by a committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, is now to be made public. They said it is intended to help restore trust in the church, which has been shaken by revelations of abuse.
Recommendations include asking the Vatican to remove priests who have abused more than one child in the past, and those who molest any young person in the future, the Boston Globenewspaper reported.
However, priests who have committed abuse just once in the past can remain in the ministry, if they were never diagnosed as paedophiles, received counselling and met other conditions under the plan, the Globeadded.
Bishop Joseph Galante, who has been working on the proposal, says the national policy should include immediately notifying the police of any abuse claims.
The recommendations by the conference's Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse will be put to a vote when bishops from around the country meet in Dallas next week.
But the committee's recommendations stop short of the blanket zero-tolerance policy that many advocates for victims have demanded.
The bishops have been struggling to repair damage from revelations some priests who victimised young people were allowed to continue working by their superiors.
More than 225 clergy out of more than 46,000 US priests have either resigned or been taken off duty since the crisis began in January with a case in Boston.
AP