After a decade in which the sins of pedophile priests placed their church on the defensive, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops are issuing a forceful pastoral message that condemns the sexual abuse of children.

The bishops, whose church lauds the sanctity of family, declare it is better for families to break up than to leave their young ones at risk.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the document Tuesday; it is to be released Thursday.

In the statement, the bishops acknowledge their own vulnerability and damaged credibility concerning pedophilia. For years, abusive priests traditionally received counseling but then were sent on to new parishes, where more abuse sometimes occurred.

"We emphasize that the community, including the family, needs to call the abuser to accountability," the bishops said. "We need to say: Abusive behavior is wrong and we will hold you accountable for it."

While forgiveness is often seen as charitable and Christlike, all acts of child sex abuse are morally evil and only God can absolve abusers, the bishops say in

"Walk in the Light: A Pastoral Response to Child Sexual Abuse."

The church should offer physical safety and help to survivors of abuse, the bishops said, and raise awareness of the issue in homilies and religious education programs for parents and children.

In the Bay Area, those who work in the field of clergy sexual abuse offered a lukewarm response to the bishops' paper, saying it does not come close to addressing all the church's pedophilia problems.

"Better late than never," said Terrie Hall, an East Bay psychotherapist and West Coast leader of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. Hall is a survivor of clergy sexual abuse.

"It's a strong, direct, moral message - what every victim would want to hear," Hall said. "But I wonder what they are planning to do next - how will they minister to victims, how will they hold the abuser accountable?

"This is a good first step. . . . Now what is their next step?"

Walnut Creek attorney Michael Meadows, who is involved in a lawsuit against the Catholic Church that alleges the sexual abuse by three priests of 11 youngsters, worries that despite the new platform, Catholic dioceses will continue to unload problem priests as they have in the past.

The bishops, he contended, need to implement strong procedures to make local churches more accountable.

"I'm not impressed," Meadows said. "The church still appears to be primarily interested in protecting its reputation and less interested in the well-being of the children."

The statement, developed by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops' committees on Marriage and Family and on Women in Society and in the Church, was approved by the church's 50-member Administrative Committee. It will be distributed as a booklet to churches, parochial schools and church day-care centers.

Before making their statement, the bishops debated whether Americans would see them as having the credibility to address child sex abuse, say people involved in developing the statement.

"We are compelled to speak, even knowing that the Church carries a heavy burden of responsibility in the area of sexual abuse," the bishops said.

"We state firmly and clearly that any act of child sexual abuse is morally evil. It is never justified."

Addressing an issue of special concern to victims, the bishops emphasized that abusers need to suffer the consequences of their actions; they urged church workers to become familiar with civil reporting requirements as well as church policies.

For his part, Eugene Merlin, an Oakland marriage, family and child counselor who treats clergy and lay pedophiles, said that the new document could "backfire in their face with priest offenders, if they put them back in ministry if their history and treatment does not warrant it."

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