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.

But the bishops’ leaders went into their meeting in Bellevue, Wash., near Seattle, on Wednesday saying that they would stand by the current charter because it is effective. The charter was approved on a vote of 187 to 5, with 4 abstentions.

The few changes included adding child pornography and abuse of the mentally ill to the violations covered by the charter, bringing it into conformity with guidelines the Vatican issued last year. They also inserted a passage saying that bishops who are accused of sexual abuse, or are aware of an accusation against a fellow bishop, are “obliged” to report this to the papal representative in Washington, D.C.

At the meeting this year, only one prelate, Francis Hurley, the retired archbishop of Anchorage, rose to speak in favor of removing the “zero tolerance” provision. Saying that it has caused anger among priests and contradicted the church’s teachings on reconciliation and forgiveness, he proposed allowing some priests who had abused to return to limited ministry.

But he found no support for such an amendment. At a news conference after the morning session, Bishop Blase Cupich, chairman of the bishops’ child protection committee, said: “I would find it very difficult as a bishop to go to a community and say, ‘I’m going to assign as your pastor or associate pastor a priest who has abused a minor.’ I can tell you, that priest would not be accepted, and my judgment on other issues would be called into question.”