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DALLAS (AP) At an extraordinary meeting on the sex s sack updal that has shaken the Roman Catholic perform, U.S. bishops took a step toward a zero- allowance account policy for paedophile priests after scrapping a proposal that would have unplowed some abusive clergy in the ministry. Bishops met in a closed-door session until late Thursday as they crafted a plan that Catholic leaders hope will end a crisis that has seen the dismissal or resignation of 250 accused priests since January. Four bishops have overly stepped down. Final legislation was to be approved Friday progress considered unprecedented for a church that often debates issues for years. AP/L.M. Otero 17K--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Last weeks initial draft proposed that a priest who mistreat one minor in the past could be reassigned to a parish, though only if he underwent counseling, was examined by a review board, agreed to supervision and publicly disclosed his misconduct. Future acts of molestation would mean expulsion an idea expected to be retained Friday. primordial Francis George of Chicago said the two-strikes-and-youre-out language is unacceptable. That sounds as if you can do it once and no one would pay attention to you. Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul and Minneapolis, head of the drafting committee, indicated this left two options Strict zero tolerance ousting any priest found guilty of abuse or a slightly less strict policy of the sort advocated by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C. McCarrick has suggested allowing some older men guilty of one past misdeed to remain technically in the priesthood but living in close confinement, kept out of parishes and barred from celebrating public Masses. Bishops open abuse conferenceWindows Media RealVideo Thursdays meeting came after a highly dramatic opening in which Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the linked States Conference of Bishops, bluntly acknowledged that b ishops mistakes helped cause the scandal. While Gregory has repeatedly apologized for the bishops role in the crisis, his remarks Thursday were perhaps his most direct yet. We are the ones who chose not to distinguish the criminal actions of priests to the authorities, because the law did not require this, he said. We are the ones who worried more about the possibility of scandal than in bringing about the smorgasbord of openness that helps prevent abuse. Bishops also heard victims tell how pain permeated their lives. Michael Bland of Chicago told of joining the priesthood but leaving after trying to persuade church leaders to take action against his molester.