Five accused priests appealing dismissals

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- Five priests accused of child sex abuse have refused orders to leave their positions in the Roman Catholic Archdiosese of Chicago, Illinois.

They're challenging a June decision by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops declaring that "no priest or deacon who has abused a minor can remain in ministry" -- essentially a so-called zero-tolerance policy.

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The five are thought to be the only priests in the United States challenging similar dismissal orders. Three other priests in the Chicago Archdiocese who had either retired or resigned also were withdrawn from the ministry.

One of the accused priests -- the Rev. John Calicott -- admits to a sexual incident in 1976 with two teen-age boys. He and four others have appealed their dismissals to the Vatican.

"I'm very concerned that as a church the policy does not seem to revolve around forgiveness and redemption but rather around punishment and vengeance," Calicott said. "Not even around protecting kids as far as I can see."

Calicott said he has enough documentation to show that he is not a risk to children.

About 25 priests in the United States have been removed since the June 14 vote in Dallas, Texas, approving the new policy.

After the Dallas vote, the policy was immediately put into place on a temporary basis until the Vatican could decide whether to allow it as permanent church law, according to a spokesman for the bishops' conference.

In April, a conference of U.S. Cardinals in Vatican City issued a more tolerant policy toward priests accused of sexually abusing children.

A communique released after that two-day meeting said the church would recommend the dismissal of a priest "who has become notorious and is guilty of the serial, predatory, sexual abuse of minors."

Whatever the policy, Rodney Ford, the father of an alleged victim of abuse by a priest, expressed pessimism.

"You can come up with the greatest set of policies and procedures in the world," Ford said. "But if these are the men that have to institute it, I don't put a lot of faith into that."