At Pope's Request, U.S. Bishops Postpone Vote On New Conduct Standards

Crux reports that in a surprise move, on Sunday night the Holy See notified Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, that the Pope wants U.S. bishops to postpone their vote on new standards of conduct for bishops and the creation of an outside commission to enforce it. The Pope wants the vote to wait until after a Feb. 21-24 international bishops' conference on clerical sex abuse.  In his opening address to the USCCB General Assembly in Baltimore yesterday (full text), Cardinal DiNardo said in part:

in light of this morning’s news, the nature of my address changes. We remain committed to the specific program of greater episcopal accountability that we will discuss these days. Consultations will take place. Votes will not this week. But we will prepare ourselves to move forward.