In Church Lawsuits, High Bar for Conviction ; Diocese Officials - Not Just Priests - Face Growing Threat, but Making a Case Is Hard

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Should the leaders of America's Roman Catholic church be held criminally liable for enabling or abetting the sex abuse by priests that occurred in their parishes and dioceses?

That's the central question behind a growing effort to probe criminal misconduct among top church officals. The moves come amid mounting public pressure for accountability - of the sort imposed on Enron and Arthur Andersen this year, when top leaders or entire organizations were punished for their connections to some employees' misdeeds.

For many legal and cultural reasons, simply indicting top church leaders - let alone convicting them - is difficult. It's complicated by everything from …