Recent decisions of U.S. bishops in respose to current sexual abuse scandals that have rocked the Roman Catholic Church is a step in the right direction, but more action needs to be taken, two experts said Monday.

David Clohessy, national director of the Survivor Network for Those Abused by Priests, said it it’s too early to tell if the bishops will actually implement the new procedures for priests who are accused of sexual abuse.

“It remains to be seen what the new policies will accomplish,” Clohessy said. “Hopefully it will make the church a safer place, but we’ll have to withhold judgment to see how it gets implemented. Words are the easy part.”

In the policy statement released Friday at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the U.S. bishops called for outreach to victims, which would include counseling, support groups and other services.

The policy would also require the dioceses to report any allegations of sexual abuse of a minor to the proper public authorities. The dioceses would remove any priest or deacon who assaults a minor child from the ministry, although the bishops stopped short of requiring them to be removed entirely from the clergy.

Guilty offenders who were not dismissed from the clergy would not be allowed to practice public mass or present themselves as priests in public, but would be allowed to conduct mass privately and would be expected “to live a life of prayer and penance.” The churches and dioceses will be expected to investigate the background of personnel and employees that have contact with children.

Clohessy said the policies aren’t enough.

“There’s virtually nothing in the document about accountability for the bishops themselves,” he said. “Eighty to ninety percent of the practicing Catholics believe bishops who cover up should be held accountable.”

David Hunter, professor of religious studies and said he would like to see more done too, particularly in terms of the bishops taking more responsibility.

“I think that as policy, the new norms are sufficient to address the worst aspects of the church’s past behavior,” said Hunter, Monsignor James A. Supple Chair of Catholic Studies. “In that sense, I think they do what a policy should. Personally, I wish that certain bishops would make a greater statement of their personal responsibility and resign.”

Both Hunter and Clohessy said they felt the new policies were a reaction to public outcry, rather than something the bishops wanted to initiate on their own.

“There is no question the bishops came to this point kicking and screaming,” Clohessy said.

“Certainly there are many bishops who are genuinely concerned for the victims of abuse by the clergy, but like administrators of any institution, probably some bishops would have preferred not to address the situation at all, at least not in the public manner that has happened now,” Hunter said.

“A lot of people don’t define zero tolerance the same way the bishops do,” Clohessy said referring to public reaction to the new policies. “There is considerable disappointment coupled with hope.”

Clohessy and Hunter said they believe it will take a long time for the church to regain much of the moral authority it has lost as a result of the scandals.

“I think positive steps have been taken,” Hunter said. “I also think that the Catholic Church has serious problems in many aspects of its teaching on sexual morality. As long as the clergy in the Roman Catholic Church remains a closed society of celibate men, the church will continue to speak with diminished authority on matters of human sexuality.”