The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to retain their policies on sexual abuse by clergy members with only minor revisions, disregarding victims’ advocates who had called for a more substantial overhaul.

The bishops promised to reconsider the policies again two years from now, after they receive recommendations from their national sexual advisory board, which is composed primarily of lay people with expertise in the field.

The bishops first adopted the policies under intense public scrutiny in 2002, as the scandal over abuse by priests reached a fever pitch. The policy’s cornerstone, which stirred great debate among the bishops at the time, was a commitment to remove from ministry every priest credibly accused of abuse even once, a tenet referred to as “zero tolerance.”

That commitment has been called into question in recent months with revelations that accused priests were allowed to continue in ministry in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Those bishops did not forward details about all the cases to their sexual abuse advisory boards or the police.

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In recent weeks, church critics have called for the bishops to close the loopholes they see in the policy, known as “The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” One such group, BishopAccountability.org, called for strengthening the review boards and the provisions that require reporting to civil authorities.