KRAKOW, Poland (CNS) -- The Vatican is still reviewing the charter on sex abuse adopted by U.S. bishops in June and hopes to issue its response sometime "soon," a Vatican spokesman said.

The spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, made the comments to reporters Aug. 17 during Pope John Paul II's visit to Poland. He was reacting to a published report that said the Vatican was about to issue a negative response to the norms.

Navarro-Valls said speculation about the Vatican's answer was premature.

"No decision has been taken yet because the document is still being evaluated. We hope to be able to communicate soon to the bishops the answer to their request," he said.

At their meeting in Dallas last June, U.S. bishops overwhelmingly adopted a "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" as a binding policy for all U.S. dioceses. The charter included provisions for mandatory reporting of clerical sex abuse allegations to civil authorities, removal from ministry of any cleric guilty of a single act of abuse against a minor, and the implementation of proceedings for dismissal of offenders from the priesthood.