PORTLAND (AP) – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland has complied with church rules adopted in 2002 to prevent sexual abuse of minors by priests, according to a church audit.

The report released this week gave the Portland diocese one “instruction,” or order, to improve and two “recommendations” to improve. It also issued two commendations.

Auditors found that the statewide diocese had failed to notify bishops of other dioceses when offending priests visited those dioceses. They also found that the diocese should warn present and future priests who are removed from ministry for sexual abuse of children that they are barred from wearing clerical garb or presenting themselves as priests.

Auditors commended the diocese for developing “innovative approaches to resolving problems, such as the development of the information outreach team and the crisis response teams,” and for its preparation and distribution of a code of ethics.

Sue Bernard, spokeswoman for the diocese, said the audit serves as a tool to determine how well the diocese is complying with the charter.

For instance, she said, “we understood quite clearly that when an offending priest changes residence, we’re supposed to make known to the bishop of that area that he has moved. What we didn’t understand … was we had to do that in the case of an extended vacation – say someone goes to Florida for a month.

“That’s the reason to have an audit like this – it’s not only a reflection of what we’re doing, but it’s also supposed to be part of a learning tool.”

Critics of the report, however, said that it is more a “self-report” than an audit.

Paul Kendrick of Cumberland, a member of the victims support organization Voice of the Faithful, said that “while the auditors tested for the existence of policies, they did not test for the effectiveness of them.”

Michael Sweatt of Portland, another member of the group, said parish priests in Maine continue to ostracize victims who step forward.

Kendrick said that Bishop Joseph Gerry should visit every parish where sexually abusive priests worked and “reawaken the parish as to the circumstances.”

If Gerry did that, Kendrick said, other victims might come forward and receive help.

AP-ES-01-07-04 1008EST