A committee of Roman Catholic bishops has delayed authorizing a second round of audits to see how closely dioceses are following the American church’s toughened policy for dealing with sexually abusive priests. The move has sparked a fresh round of criticism aimed at the Catholic leaders.

A member of the National Review Board — the lay watchdog panel the bishops created to monitor the church’s response to the abuse crisis — warned Wednesday that the delay could undermine the abuse policy, while a victims’ group said it was “extremely troubled” by the decision.

A spokeswoman for the nation’s bishops insisted, however, that the postponement was not a retreat from the reforms the bishops adopted at the height of the clergy abuse crisis two years ago. One church leader who requested the delay said he simply wanted to have a broad discussion of the audits before moving forward.

An administrative panel of church leaders made the decision to temporarily put off a second round of visits last month, after some prelates had asked for a broader discussion of the audits. They will bring the issue before the nation’s bishops at their next semiannual meeting — a closed-door retreat in June in Denver.