Responses to Current Issues: The Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal

MEDIA

click here for Media coverage May 1, 2002 and later

APRIL 30
Las Crucens seek change in the church - Sun-News
Genevieve Chavez-Mitchell is a Las Cruces resident who serves as executive director of the Women's Ordination Conference, a national group promoting women into the priesthood.

She said the tragedy is not just child abuse in the church, but the way the church is run.

John Wheeler, Truth or Consequences attorney and organizer of the Catholic group Call to Action N.M., agreed. If married men were ordained, church laymen could become leaders and would be able to make a change in the church, he said.

"Women and married men should be involved in these cases, because they are caregivers," Wheeler said. ,ÄúCall to Action N.M. was organized in an attempt to promote justice in the church. Bishops had begun the national organization 25 years ago in an attempt to give laymen more of a chance to offer input. Wheeler's involvement in the group began when he sought church government changes in 1998, but was not able to contribute to the changes because he did not wear a collar. http://www.lcsun-news.com/cda/article/print/0,1674,115%257E7442%257E576148,00.html

How many are truly blessed with the 'gift' of celibacy? - Irish Times
RITE AND REASON: It is highly unlikely that all those who became priests and nuns have the "gift" of celibacy, writes Michael Commane
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/opinion/2002/0430/3775024446OP30COMMANE.html

Abusive priests belong in prison - Baltime Sun Opinion
That's what makes this one so dispiriting. Admitting that molestation of minors by adults is a crime is like recognizing that water is wet. From a leader of John Paul's vast moral authority, something far stronger and less equivocal was in order. If he had wanted to make the pointless ambiguous, the pontiff could have said what church officials should have been saying for years when confronted with evidence of sexual abuse: "Call the cops."
http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.chapman-30apr30.story?coll=bal%2Doped%2Dheadlines

Hubbard removes priest from ministry - Albany Times-Union
Albany-- Cleric who admitted in 1986 to sexual abuse is returning to Albany but won't be reassigned by bishop

A priest accused of molesting at least three children in Albany more than 15 years ago has been removed from his latest position in New Mexico, following Bishop Howard Hubbard's review of clergymen from his diocese who were accused of pedophilia, church officials said.

The Rev. David Bentley, 59, who was ordained in 1975 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and was most recently assigned to a small parish in Deming, N.M., was called back to Albany and will not be reassigned because of a history of sexually abusing children, according to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyKey=81933&category=F

'Catholic Church is above SA's abuse law' -The Mercury (South Africa)
The Catholic Church believes the law which obliges people to report child abuse cases does not apply to it.

Accordingly, it will continue to deal with sexual abuse in its ranks as an internal matter, leaving it to the victim or the family to report the abuser.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=ct20020430213004880C621642

BLAME THE BISHOPS, NOT THE GAYS - New York Post Opinion
April 30, 2002 -- WHEN homosexual protesters rally quietly outside of St. Patrick's and take extreme measures not to interrupt Mass, you know the Catholic world is changing.
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/46768.htm

Blame Church Arrogance, Not Oversexed Society - Los Angeles Times Opinion
The Catholic clergy might be best served by reciting the wisdom of Pogo: 'We have met the enemy and he is us.'
 
While it might appear to be sweet revenge for the Inquisition, it is best to resist the impulse to burn some Catholic priests--and the cardinals who covered up their criminal activities--at the stake. Be thankful that we live in a secular, pluralistic society in which the heavy hand of the sanctimonious is restrained.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-000030574apr30.story

Cardinal Sued Over Molestation Cases - Los Angeles Times
The civil filings on behalf of two sets of brothers accuse Mahony of running a criminal enterprise.

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony was sued Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court under a federal racketeering law typically used to dismantle organized crime operations. Two lawsuits were filed on behalf of two sets of brothers who allege they were sexually abused as children by a priest in the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-043002mahony.story

Nuns Hope Abuse Scandal Brings Extensive Reform - Los Angeles Times
 NEWTON, Mass. -- The pictures from Rome filled Sister Marie LaBollita with fury. All those white-haired men in red vestments, but not one victim of clerical sexual abuse. Not a single family member to attest to the toll of sexual violation. Not one expert on pedophilia.

Not one woman
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-043002nuns.story

Priest lawyer stymied '84 inquiry - Daily Southtown
Police denied chance to question Lenczycki after molestation allegations

When Hinsdale police, acting on an anonymous tip, tried to question a Joliet diocese priest about allegations of sexual abuse in 1984, an attorney for the church turned them away.
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dsindex/30-ds1.htm

Meeting on Abuse Cases Bolsters Morale, Priests Say - New York Times
YONKERS, April 29 " Cardinal Edward M. Egan met with hundreds of New York City priests today to detail his meeting last week with the pope and discuss future responses to sexual abuse allegations.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/30/nyregion/30EGAN.html?tntemail0

Bishop Signs Prosecutor's Memo - New York Times
The head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn has signed a memorandum requiring all diocese employees to report accusations of sexual abuse of children directly to prosecutors.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/30/nyregion/30BISH.html?tntemail0

Meeting Is Held on Detecting and Preventing Abuse - New York Times
Roman Catholic priests, nuns and other church workers from New Hampshire took part on Monday in a national pilot program on how to detect and prevent sexual abuse by priests.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/30/national/30ABUS.html?tntemail0

Opinion: Anger and Sorrow in the Church - New York Times
Anger and Sorrow in the Church To the Editor:.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/30/opinion/L30CHUR.html?tntemail0

Nassau Requires Churches to Report Sex Abuse Complaints - New York Times
GARDEN CITY, N.Y., April 29 " The Nassau County Legislature voted unanimously today to require religious organizations to report complaints of child sex abuse to the district attorney " a measure legislators said they b
elieved was the nation's first local law dealing with the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/30/nyregion/30NASS.html?tntemail0

Pastor rejects drive led by Law - Boston Globe
Lowell parish spurns Cardinal's Appeal

In a sign of continuing displeasure with Cardinal Bernard F. Law's handling of clergy sexual abuse cases, a Lowell pastor has said that on Sunday he will not ask parishioners to contribute to the Cardinal's Appeal, an annual fund-raising drive that helps pay for the church's day-to-day operating expenses.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/120/metro/Pastor_rejects_drive_led_by_Law+.shtml

Law aides balking at Geoghan costs - Boston Globe
Settlement seen as risk to finances

At least three members of the Archdiocese of Boston's 15-member financial advisory committee are expected to urge Cardinal Bernard F. Law on Thursday to abandon the multimillion-dollar settlement the church has tentatively agreed to pay to 86 victims of defrocked priest John J. Geoghan.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/120/metro/Law_aides_balking_at_Geoghan_costs+.shtml

Alleged victim demands apology from monsignor - Boston Globe
Garry M. Garland, who has accused Monsignor Frederick J. Ryan of molesting him as a minor, said yesterday that Ryan's resignation last week from a Kingston parish was a veiled admission of guilt.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/120/metro/Alleged_victim_demands_apology_from_monsignor+.shtml

Cleric faces new allegations - AP
Suit asserts priest got teen drunk, then molested him

CONCORD, N.H. - A Roman Catholic priest charged with molesting a teenager in 1985 also is accused of getting a youth drunk in front of other clergy and later molesting him privately, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/120/metro/Cleric_faces_new_allegations+.shtml

Conn. priest admits misconduct - AP

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - A Roman Catholic priest has resigned after admitting sexual misconduct and receiving his third conviction for drunken driving.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/120/metro/Conn_priest_admits_misconduct+.shtml

Laity group demands voice: In Lowell, pastor snubs diocesan fund drive - Boston Herald

Nearly 500 mainstream Catholics demanding a major voice for the laity in church affairs met last night to say they would organize locally and nationally despite a recent letter from the Archdiocese of Boston urging ``the faithful'' not to question church directives.

The meeting of The Voice of the Faithful group, at St. John the Evangelist Church in Wellesley, came as a small mutiny broke out in Lowell. The pastor of St. Michael's Parish urged his congregants to shun two major archdiocesan fund-raisers and focus instead on the ``pain, fear, stress and hurt'' of the clerical molestation crisis.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/voic04302002.htm

Knock from Law leaves faithful wondering why - Boston Herald
Bernard Cardinal Law last week ordered him, basically, to cease and desist. Priests are not to aide or cooperate with threatening renegades like him.
Yet devoted Catholic David Zizik, ``pin-striped all the way,'' fits nobody's image of revolutionary.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/eagan04302002.htm

Charity unfairly painted in image of archdiocese - Boston Herald
But nothing she read when she was an enlisted woman in the Air Force, or later as an officer in the Coast Guard, prepared her for the flood of e-mail profanity she's encountered as director of communications for Catholic Charities.

``Let's just say the level of invective has reached truly grotesque proportions,'' March explained.
The public rage over the actions of predatory priests, coupled with the inaction of a cardinal, has generated its own kind of obscenity. And so far, Catholic Charities has felt the heat unleashed by so many who are convinced they are striking a blow against the hierarchy of the Boston archdiocese.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/gelzinis04302002.htm

Lawyers say archdiocese blocking release of files - Boston Herald
With settlement talks bogged down or inactive in scores of clerical molestation lawsuits, lawyers for the Archdiocese of Boston and for several accused priests are aggressively challenging the further release of internal documents, especially clergy psychological data.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/ryan04302002.htm

Cleric sex abuse allegations continue to surface - Boston Herald
A Northboro priest was removed from his parish post after he was accused of molesting a minor as the cleric sex abuse scandal continues to mushroom in dioceses around New England and the country.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/devl04302002.htm

APRIL 29

An alleged victim is called negligent - Boston Globe
Term is ascribed to Law in lawyer's response to suit

In his first legal response to charges that the Rev. Paul R. Shanley began molesting a Newton boy when he was 6 years old, Cardinal Bernard F. Law has asserted that ''negligence'' by the boy and his parents contributed to the alleged abuse.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/119/metro/An_alleged_victim_is_called_negligent+.shtml

Child sexual abuse cases harder to track, verify - Boston Globe
WORCESTER - Twice the little girl has come to this office for a talk about her private parts, and twice her mother has taken her back home. Nothing.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/119/metro/Child_sexual_abuse_cases_harder_to_track_verify+.shtml

A cardinal hedges on zero tolerance - Reuters
WASHINGTON - The Roman Catholic Church should have ''zero tolerance'' for sexual abuse of children by priests, but more discussion is needed on whether one offense should mean automatic expulsion from the priesthood, a cardinal said yesterday.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/119/nation/A_cardinal_hedges_on_zero_tolerance+.shtml

Law makes annual pitch for funds - Boston Globe
Other drives struggle; priests see reluctance to give because of crisis

On the eve of an annual fund-raising appeal that some are seeing as a barometer of his staying power, Cardinal Bernard F. Law yesterday made a televised pitch for Catholics to give money to fund the operations of the Archdiocese of Boston.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/119/metro/Law_makes_annual_pitch_for_funds+.shtml

Diocesan vicar cited in Conn. accusations - AP
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Another Roman Catholic priest in the Bridgeport Diocese is being accused of abusing children.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/119/metro/Diocesan_vicar_cited_in_Conn_accusations+.shtml

Bias on the church scandal? - Boston Globe
EVEN THE REPORTERS and editors at the epicenter of the Globe's pedophile priest coverage are stunned at how the story has reverberated around the world.

What began in January as a Spotlight Team account of one errant Roman Catholic priest and the Boston Archdiocese's failure to contain him has unleashed similarly embarrassing stories in dioceses across the United States and in at least three foreign countries. Every major newsweekly has put the story on the cover, and international media attention has been intense since the ripple effects reached the Vatican.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/119/oped/Bias_on_the_church_scandal_+.shtml

Cardinal describes meeting in Rome - Boston Herald
In his first public appearance since his return to Boston, Bernard Cardinal Law painted an optimistic picture of last week's meeting of U.S. cardinals at the Vatican, while demonstrators continued their call for his resignation.

A phalanx of protesters, reporters and police waited in the rain outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, while inside, Law began morning Mass by addressing the clergy sexual abuse scandal that brought him to Rome.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/card04292002.htm

Viewpoint: They Know Not What They Do - Time Magazine
Even in Rome, says Andrew Sullivan, the U.S. Cardinals still forgot the children 
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,233969,00.html

Sex and the Church: A Case For Change - Newsweek
Cracking down on predators is long overdue. But beyond the scandal, it's time to rethink sexuality and the sacraments  
http://www.msnbc.com/news/744754.asp#BODY

Priest lent sex abuse lawsuit credence - Newark Star-Ledger
Letter told secrets of Camden Diocese

In 1998, Monsignor Salvatore Adamo, a retired priest in the Diocese of Camden who was in his late 70s and ailing, decided to reveal a secret.

It was shocking, but not out of character for Adamo, a former journalist with some unorthodox views who had often tangled with his bishop.

He called a lawyer who had filed a class-action lawsuit that alleged the diocese had covered up child sex abuse and had protected pedophile priests for decades, and volunteered his thoughts. Then he put them down on paper.
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-1/10200714135120.xml

Old law may aid in cases of sex abuse - Miami Herald
Florida prosecutors have no time limit to charge anyone accused of sexually assaulting a young child, a potent tool for investigators should new victims arise to file abuse complaints against Catholic priests.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/3157835.htm

Spanish priest steps down after former gay lover distributes graphic video - AP
MADRID, Spain - In the latest sex scandal to unsettle the Roman Catholic Church in Spain, a priest has resigned after his former homosexual lover made public a video tape of them performing sexual acts.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020429/ap_wo_en_ge/spain_gay_priest_3

In Canada, a Tougher Stand on Clergy Sex Abuse - Washington Post
Following Lawsuits Over Residential Schools, Bishops Acted a Decade Ago to Require Quick Response

TORONTO -- While Roman Catholic churches in the United States struggle with the sexual abuse of minors by priests, church officials in Canada are working with guidelines created a decade ago that determine what to do when such cases arise.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64405-2002Apr28.html

Tampa priest suspended, denies sexual-misconduct allegations - AP
TAMPA · A Roman Catholic priest has been suspended from pastoral duties while diocesan officials investigate allegations of sexual misconduct 14 years ago -- accusations he denies.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/search/sfl-fabuse29apr29.story

Q&A on Church Sex Abuse for Kids - AP
Charges of sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church have surfaced relentlessly in recent months, causing a flurry of questions to arise.

It's not an easy issue for anyone. But it's particularly tricky when it comes to young people, Catholic or not. Questions from younger children are usually basic -- and often relate to the child's own sense of personal safety. Experts say it's important to address those questions, even if only briefly.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-church-abuse-youth-qa0429apr28.story

Catholic Worshipers See Salvation for Church - Washington Post
Dialogue, Apologies Ease Sex-Abuse Sadness

Parishioners at St. Michael's Church in Silver Spring applauded yesterday as their pastor apologized for sexual abuse of minors by priests and labeled it a crime. In Manassas, worshipers at All Saints Catholic Church read in their weekly bulletin that "even ONE incident is a grave sorrow and injustice."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64417-2002Apr28.html

Cardinal Law: Boy was partly at fault for abuse - USA Today
BOSTON (AP) - The embattled head of Boston's Roman Catholic archdiocese said a national policy on pedophile priests may have to wait until at least June, dashing hopes for immediate action stemming from a recent summit of cardinals at the Vatican. Meanwhile, Cardinal Bernard Law is coming under new criticism for a legal defense alleging that plaintiffs in a lawsuit against him were partly responsible for an allegedly abusive relationship between the Rev. Paul Shanley and a boy. The alleged abuse began in 1983, when the boy was 6.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/29/church-abuse.htm

Lay Catholics demand more church control - USA Today
BOSTON - Nearly a week after an extraordinary papal summit in Rome about sexually abusive priests, American Catholics are not only still fuming about how their cardinals and bishops have handled the matter, some now are calling for a grass-roots movement to take more control of the church, at least within their own parishes. That portends prolonged conflict within some of the nation's biggest dioceses - especially here in Boston, ground zero of the metastasizing sex abuse scandal. The crisis of confidence in the church leadership is not only not going away, but it could get worse. Rank-and-file churchgoers and alleged victims of abusive priests are demanding change, calling the results of the historic summit "horribly disappointing" and "a waste of time."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/acovmon.htm

Egan Invites 1,000 Priests to Discuss Abuse Cases - New York Times
Cardinal Edward M. Egan, back in New York after meeting with Pope John Paul II, has invited the roughly 1,000 priests in the New York Archdiocese for a meeting in Yonkers this morning, when he is expected to discuss thehandling of sexual abuse allegations against priests.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/29/nyregion/29EGAN.html?tntemail0

At Least 177 Priests Leave Duties in U.S - AP
At least 177 priests suspected of molesting minors have either resigned or been taken off duty, a review of Roman Catholic dioceses has found.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/29/national/29PRIE.html?tntemail0

At a Largely Gay Church, a Test of Faith - New York Times
Being gay and a practicing Roman Catholic, never an easy proposition, is especially hard in these days of scandal.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/29/national/29GAYS.html?tntemail0

Last Word on Abuse Policy Will Be Vatican's, Law Says - New York Times
Cardinal Bernard F. Law said on Sunday that any new guidelines for handling clerical sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church would have to be approved by the Vatican.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/29/national/29BOST.html?tntemail0

Pastor warns against judgment - Los Angeles Times
Parishioners of Pomona church contemplate news of molestation allegations against priest and how larger scandal is affecting faith.
http://www.latimes.com/tcn/ontario/features/religion/la-iv0022250apr29.story

Priest Accused of Molesting 4 Retires Early - Los Angeles Times
Cardinal Mahony says the allegations were made long before his 'zero tolerance' policy took effect, and he expresses sympathy for the cleric.
 
 A 69-year-old Catholic priest assigned to the new cathedral in downtown Los Angeles has been reported to police and forced to retire by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony because of allegations that the priest sexually abused four boys in the 1960s and 1970s.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000030486apr29.story

APRIL 28
Meet the Press - MSNBC
MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: The pope speaks out on the crisis in the Catholic Church. The American cardinals' written statement receives a decidedly mixed response. What now? With us: One of the men who met with the pope and helped craft that statement, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago.
       
Nearly one in four Americans is baptized a Catholic. How should they cope with this scandal? With us: A professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, Father Richard McBrien, and the president of the Institute of Religion and Public Life, Father Richard Neuhaus.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/744173.asp

A Leap of Faith - Los Angeles Times Opinion
American Catholics, more than they realize, are in a position to decide what kind of church they want.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-000030065apr28.story

Bishop Gives Police Names of 20 Priests - Los Angeles Times
The bishop of San Bernardino has given police the names of 20 priests accused of sexually abusing minors, including four men still active in the diocese, after reviewing clergy files dating back 50 years.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000030147apr28.story

Bishop Should Demand That Cardinals Resign - Los Angeles Times Letters
If Orange County Bishop Tod D. Brown believes in healing, cleansing and a humble, holier church, he could start by demanding the resignation of Catholic cardinals, from Bernard Law to Roger M. Mahony, who covered up cases of sexual abuse.
http://www.latimes.com/editions/orange/la-000030133apr28.story

Dioceses' Policies Reflect Settlement - Los Angeles Times
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony can brag that his archdiocese has implemented the toughest rules in the nation against priests who molest children. But that boast was made possible only because one of the church's stubborn accusers insisted last December that the new policy be part of his record $5.2-million settlement.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000030166apr28.story

In the Crucible, Mahony Takes Control of Message - Los Angeles Times
After a defensive start, the Los Angeles diocese's media-savvy cardinal is getting high marks for confronting abuse and presenting himself as a reformer.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000030156apr28.story

Abuse victims find way to heal - Chicago Tribune
Survivor groups gain support amid priest scandal

After years of being dismissed and disparaged for trying to call attention to priests who molest children, Barbara Blaine is a bit overwhelmed these days as the world beats a path to her door.

The Chicago attorney is founder of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, a group whose Web site is averaging 1,000 hits a day, 10 times more than it did before the sex-abuse scandal exploded in the Catholic Church.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/showcase/chi-0204280353apr28.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed

'Bishop of Bay View' won't let national scandal interfere with his parish duties - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
But amid this happiness, there is an undercurrent of uneasiness. Late at night, there have been phone calls, anonymous and ugly, that keep Father Tom Wittliff tossing in his bed.

"Child abuser," they say. Wittliff knows it's not true. Still, he is pained by the calls.
http://www.jsonline.com/lifestyle/religion/apr02/38769.asp

Former Sao Paulo archbishop speaks out against forced celibacy - AP
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - One of the most influential Roman Catholic leaders in Brazil, former archbishop of Sao Paulo Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns, spoke out against priest celibacy in an interview published Sunday.

"Celibacy should be left as an option. It shouldn't be obligatory," Arns told O Globo newspaper. "Celibacy is a Church legislation and not from Christ."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020428/ap_wo_en_ge/brazil_vatican_celibacy_1

S.J. parish struggles to accept dark secret - San Jose Mercury News
At church, in school, over the phone and across the kitchen table, members of a San Jose Roman Catholic parish have been confronting a painful secret.

Since a group of former students at the St. Martin of Tours parish school came forward last week and said they were fondled by the late Rev. Joseph Pritchard in the 1970s, mothers have been calling their adult sons to ask if they, too, were abused by Pritchard.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/3155574.htm

The Church's PR Nightmare - Newsday
The Catholic dioceses have begun hiring public relations firms. In Philadelphia and Boston, they've had them on call for a while. The Diocese of Rockville Centre just hired the firm of Rubenstein Associates, a company famous for crisis management. Kathie Lee Gifford and Lizzie Grubman are two recent crises of theirs. Soon maybe the pope will be another.

To hire a PR firm usually requires of a client three basic conditions: to be caught dead to rights in scandal, to have lots of money and to be determined against all odds to live in denial. The church qualifies.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/newsday/20020428/lo/the_church_s_pr_nightmare_1.html

Removal Stuns Maine Parishioners - AP
ELLSWORTH, Maine (AP) - Parishioners' emotions ranged from anger to sadness Sunday at the Roman Catholic St. Joseph's Church, where their priest had been removed with unusual swiftness after being accused of sexually abusing a minor.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020428/ap_on_re_us/church_abuse_maine_3

Gay Groups Protest at St. Patrick's - AP
NEW YORK (AP) - Nearly 100 gay activists gathered outside St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday to protest church leaders' handling of the sex abuse scandal.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&514&e=20&u=/ap/20020428/ap_on_re_us/church_abuse_new_york_18

Future priests vow to make difference - Baltimore Sun
Seminaries like St. Mary's under closer scrutiny amid clergy sex scandal
http://www.sunspot.net/news/bal-te.md.seminary28apr28.story?coll=bal%2Dpe%2Dasection

Cardinal Law says national policy on sexually abusive priests must wait until June meeting - AP
Cardinal Bernard Law said Sunday that the creation of a national policy on sexually abusive priests would have to wait until a Catholic bishops conference, dashing hopes for immediate action stemming from the recent summit of cardinals.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020428/ap_wo_en_ge/us_church_abuse_91

For molester priests on the hunt for young victims, parents often were the first target - AP
Before sexually molesting young victims, many predatory priests psychologically seduced the parents " winning their trust in order to gain access to their children.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020428/ap_wo_en_ge/us_church_abuse_seducing_parents_1

Vatican's Man of The Hour - Washington Post
McCarrick Improves Scandal-Tarnished Image of Church
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60867-2002Apr27.html

Vatican logic more akin to cardinal sin - Seattle Times Opinion
Forgive me, Father, but it's not enough.

Two days at the Vatican to address decades of sexual abuse by priests is an insult to the injury already suffered by hundreds of victims through thousands of days.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134444327_brodeur28m.html

Parishes still blessed with good priests - Baltimore Sun Opinion
BETRAYAL. That's the word John Pfannenstiel used to describe the actions of those "priests" who have engaged in sexual acts with children.
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.kane28apr28.column?coll=bal%2Dpe%2Dmaryland

Opinion: Ire and Brimstone - New York Times
At the Vatican this week, the American cardinals chose defiance over deference to the expectations of their devastated flock.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/28/opinion/28DOWD.html?tntemail0

Opinion: Lies of the Cardinals - New York Times
How St. Augustine handled a scandal in 425, and how he differs from America's Cardinals.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/28/opinion/28WILL.html?tntemail0

In Crisis, U.S. Catholics See Turning Point for Church - New York Times
Though the diagnoses and remedies varied, the sense of urgency and the seeming historic dimensions of the debate did not.

Claire Noonan, who works in Chicago as an organizer for Call to Action, a progressive Catholic organization, said she was struck by the consensus across church divisions that a crossroads has been reached. Despite widespread disgust with the way the abusive priests have been dealt with, she said, many Catholics see an unusual opportunity to bring about change.

"Liberals and conservatives are at the same level of outrage," said Ms. Noonan, who is 31 and divorced. "But we are not getting, `This is the last straw and I am out of here.' A lot of folks are saying: `This is it. This is the moment when we can actually change things - that this is so bad that they have to do something.' "

Ms. Noonan, who has a master's degree in theology and has been involved in church ministries since she was 14, said she attended a forum last week at St. Gertrude Church near her home in Chicago. The purpose of the meeting was to give people the opportunity to share their thoughts and fears about sexual abuse in the church. Several victims spoke, and Ms. Noonan said she found their words very moving, but she was most struck by a woman from Nigeria who stood up near the end of the meeting.

"She said that she wanted to thank the American church for bringing this problem to light, because it is happening in her country but they are not allowed to speak about it," Ms. Noonan said. "That made an impression on me. All of this makes me angry, but it makes me want to work harder to invite more people to be more willing to speak out, to stop accepting silence as the rightful place of the laity and to start really forcing the hierarchy to be accountable."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/28/national/28CATH.html?tntemail0

A Family Caught Between Faith and a Sister's Dark Secret - New York Times
Peggy Fry is seeking acknowledgement for the abuse she took at the hands of a Roman Catholic clergyman in the Bridgeport, Conn., Diocese.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/28/nyregion/28TOWN.html?tntemail0

Ex-Altar Boy Confronts the Church in Cincinnati - New York Times
CINCINNATI, April 25 " When he talks to fellow parishioners at St. Aloysius on the Ohio, Michael K. Allen, criminal prosecutor for this city, is relieved to find them discussing the clergy's sexual abuse scandal with fi
ery resolution. Far more, Mr. Allen said, than he was able to discern this week in the pronouncements from Rome.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/28/national/28PROS.html?tntemail0

Pope's Words to Cardinals Reach Past U.S. - New York Times
Pope John Paul II's denunciation of clerical sexual abuse of the young has alerted bishops in many parts of the world on notice that they must tighten procedures.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/28/national/28BISH.html?tntemail0

Gulf coast priest resigns - AP
ST. PETERSBURG · A Roman Catholic priest resigned after an accusation surfaced that he fondled a youth 30 years ago, the second such resignation in the St. Petersburg Diocese in as many weeks.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/search/sfl-apriest28apr28.story

The Cardinals Who Weren't Called to Rome - Washington Post Opinion
DUBLIN -- Victims breaking their silence to talk about abuse at the hands of the priests they trusted. A system of dealing with complaints that hovers between complacency and complicity. Bishops and cardinals disappearing from view as questions rain down on them. Awkward news conferences at which church leaders set out to look humble and contrite, and end up looking arrogant and uncaring. Enraged victims protesting at church ceremonies. The faithful, disillusioned and bewildered.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57993-2002Apr27.html

When in Rome / U.S. cardinals come up short - Minneapolis Star Tribune Editorial
Last week's brief gathering of American cardinals in Rome was valuable on two fronts.

First, it compelled Pope John Paul to issue a strong and welcome condemnation of clerical sexual abuses against the young as a societal crime and an appalling sin.

Second, it revealed to American Catholics that many of their church leaders haven't yet grasped the entirety of the crisis they have helped perpetuate. The statement issued by U.S. cardinals on Wednesday, for example, failed to recommend the disciplinary reforms needed to make a decisive break from past mistakes -- mistakes not only by abusive priests but by bishops who covered up their crimes.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/2260917.html

Cardinal heaps shame on church with gag order - Boston Herald Opinion
At last Bernard Cardinal Law has revealed his true enemy: not serial sodomizers but serial organizers.

That is, loyal Catholics and devoted priests now planning meetings to reform their church.
Law's move was literally breathtaking in its gall.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/eagan04282002.htm

Hub man: Abuse part of brother's broken life - Boston Herald
It is not about apologies. No apology will ever reunite Kevin McDonough with his brother Billy.
Nor is it a matter of money. Jean McDonough and her two sons already have been compensated for their pain and suffering . . . twice. Once by the Order of St. Francis; and once by the Archdiocese of Boston.

But if apologies and money could heal all the wounds and numb all the pain, maybe Jean McDonough would not be in a hospital right now. And perhaps her son, Kevin, would not be buffeted by an aching restlessness, nearly eight years after he found his older brother dead on a couch.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/gelzinis04282002.htm

When Bernie Law comes knocking, stiff the stiff - Boston Herald Opinion
Got something in the mail from the cardinal this week.

I'll make you a deal, Bernie. When you go, I give.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/carr04282002.htm

Law retains support with immigrants, poor - Boston Herald Opinion
The honk of horns from sympathetic drivers threatens to drown out Terry McKiernan's voice as he holds up a sign outside Bernard Cardinal Law's sprawling Brighton residence: ``Wanted: Bernard Law, AKA `the cardinal,' collusion, obstruction.''
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/clas04282002.htm

Bishop says Law should not resign - AP
PELHAM, N.H. - Bishop John B. McCormack said yesterday that Cardinal Bernard Law should not step down, despite public pressure that he resign for reassigning priests to other parishes who committed sexual abuse.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/118/metro/Bishop_says_Law_should_not_resign+.shtml

Monsignor Ryan resigns over suits - Boston Globe
Parishioners are notified by mail; he asks for forgiveness

KINGSTON - In an emotional resignation letter to his former parishioners, accused sex offender Monsignor Frederick J. Ryan asked forgiveness of anyone he may have ''injured,'' but made no mention of guilt or innocence in connection with allegations he molested three teenage boys 20 years ago.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/118/metro/Monsignor_Ryan_resigns_over_suits+.shtml

Philadelphia's DA targets sex abuse - Boston Herald
PHILADELPHIA - District Attorney Lynne Abraham spent the morning of her 61st birthday, Jan. 31, visiting children at two Catholic schools. She recalled her rough-kid-turned-lawyer success story, urged hard work, and even made funny faces, drawing laughs from priests, parents, and children who reveled in seeing her behave so unlike her tough prosecutor image.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/118/nation/Philadelphia_s_DA_targets_sex_abuse+.shtml

Seminarians follow the bishops' debate - Boston Globe
ROME - On the winding Gianicolo street that overlooks the cupola of St. Peter's Cathedral, young seminarians made their way back Wednesday from their traditional passeggio, or daily walk, part of a tradition meant to ensure that future priests are healthy in body as well as soul.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/118/nation/Seminarians_follow_the_bishops_debate+.shtml

The clergy's buried truths - Boston Glober
Prevalence of male teenage victims in scandal points to other issues
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/118/focus/The_clergy_s_buried_truths+.shtml>http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/118/focus/The_clergy_s_buried_truths+.shtml

APRIL 27
Priesthood tests to weed out pedophiles - Courier-Mail (Australia)
ALL candidates for the Catholic priesthood in Brisbane are to be subjected to full psychological and psycho-sexual screening to weed out students predisposed to pedophilia.

Archbishop John Bathersby said that although the church had "for years" screened applicants for the priesthood, he wanted seminarians to be tested by the Sydney-based Encompass Program.
http://www.couriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,4206553%255E3102,00.html

Church still has issues to deal with - Courier-Mail (Australia) Editorial
FAR from providing the universal Catholic Church with clear guidelines for dealing in future with cases of clergy sexual abuse, the Pope's meeting this week with 12 US cardinals has succeeded merely in muddying already murky waters.
http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,4205676%255E13360,00.html

Archdiocese rebuts report Law to leave - Boston Globe
Even as Cardinal Bernard Law continued to avoid talking directly to the media, his spokeswoman yesterday denied a report that he was likely to leave as head of the Boston Archdiocese to accept a position with the Vatican in Rome.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/117/nation/Archdiocese_rebuts_report_Law_to_leave+.shtml

Judge issues gag order on archdiocese documents - Boston Globe
Negligence charges in Reardon case at issue

Seeking to stem the tide of public disclosure of church documents in the clergy sex abuse scandal, a Suffolk Superior Court judge yesterday imposed a confidentiality order on Archdiocese of Boston documents in a negligence case brought by a victim of convicted pedophile Christopher Reardon.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/117/metro/Judge_issues_gag_order_on_archdiocese_documents+.shtml

Church still defensive, not penitent - Boston Globe Opinion
WASHINGTON THE AGE-OLD formula for a sinner seeking absolution in a Catholic confessional - ''Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned'' - has been revised during the current scandal.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/117/oped/Church_still_defensive_not_penitent+.shtml

$500,000 Yawkey gift to Catholic Charities - Boston Globe
Helping Catholic Charities overcome a cash crunch, the Yawkey Foundation yesterday announced it is giving one of the state's largest private social services providers $500,000 in immediate aid to keep five youth-oriented programs from closing.

Over the past few months, the taint of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church has prompted several major corporate donors to keep their distance from the already financially strapped charity.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/117/metro/_500_000_Yawkey_gift_to_Catholic_Charities+.shtml

Letters offer insight on Shanley - Boston Globe
More than 100 of the 800 pages of documents related to the Rev. Paul R. Shanley released two days ago were written by the accused molester and portray an egotistical, argumentative, and crass man enamored with his image as a ''radical'' priest.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/117/metro/Letters_offer_insight_on_Shanley+.shtml

Kingston monsignor submits resignation - AP
Monsignor Frederick J. Ryan, a former Archdiocese of Boston vice chancellor facing allegations that he molested three teenage boys, offered his resignation in a letter publicized yesterday.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/117/metro/Kingston_monsignor_submits_resignation+.shtml

N.H. PARISHES: 2 priests removed, and 1 is charged - AP
CONCORD, N.H. - Two Roman Catholic priests were removed from their parishes this week amid allegations that they molested children, and one of the men was arrested yesterday on sexual assault charges.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/117/metro/2_priests_removed_and_1_is_charged+.shtml

Law keeps low profile during fund-raising trip - Boston Herald
PHILADELPHIA - Bernard Cardinal Law continued to avoid the media spotlight yesterday, shielded from the press by a phalanx of security men on his way to celebrate Mass at a downtown basilica.
``We snuck Law in (to the church) about seven minutes ago,'' a plainclothes Philadelphia police officer said yesterday.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/law04272002.htm

Law must answer for his actions . . . Boston Herald editorial
So this is the way it's going to go down, say those in the know.

Bernard Cardinal Law will be whisked off to Rome, ``promoted'' to some post within the Vatican hierarchy - not because he has betrayed the trust of the people of the Boston archdiocese but because he faces a June 5 court-ordered deposition and the pope wants to spare him from the experience
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/edt04272002.htm

. . . Not Catholic Charities - Boston Herald editorial
It is difficult to quantify what this scandal in the Roman Catholic Church has done to this community. No one can put a number on the pain of families who are dealing with the aftermath of abuse or the sorrow in the hearts of the faithful.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/edtb04272002.htm

Poll: Catholic Church Too Lenient on Priest Abuse - Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Four out of five Americans believe the Roman Catholic Church is too lenient in punishing priests who sexually abuse children and a majority said Pope John Paul II should make clearer whether the church will remove pedophile priests, a poll released on Saturday showed.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&578&e=16&u=/nm/20020427/ts_nm/crime_church_poll_dc_1

AP: 177 Priests Removed in 28 States - AP
At least 177 priests suspected of molesting minors have either resigned or been taken off duty in 28 states and the District of Columbia since the clerical sex scandal erupted in January, a nationwide review of Roman Catholic dioceses by The Associated Press found.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&ncid=716&e=3&u=/ap/20020428/ap_on_re_us/church_abuse_160

Thanks to Catholic leaders for nothing - Los Angeles Tiimes Opinion
SNAP is an acronym for a group called "Survivor Network for those Abused by Priests." Take a guess as to how many members they have nationwide. Sitting down? It's 3,500.
http://www.latimes.com/tcn/pilot/columnists/la-dp0030785apr27.story

Opinion: Priests and the Hypocrisy of Zero Tolerance - New York Times
On one issue, the Vatican is correct: It rejected a zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse in the priesthood.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/27/opinion/27WOLF.html?tntemail0

Opinion: Religion for Dummies - New York Times
What has been most shocking about the church scandal so far is not the revelation that some priests prey on minors but that their bosses are looking out for No. 1 (and I don't mean Him) rather than their victims.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/27/opinion/27RICH.html?tntemail0

Bishop Daily Asks Parents to Report Possible Abuse - New York Times
Bishop Thomas V. Daily, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, has asked parents among its membership to be alert to the possible sexual abuse of their children by priests.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/27/nyregion/27BISH.html?tntemail0

Finding the Place of Faith in Psychiatric Treatment - New York Times
A life focused on the balance between religion and psychiatry.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/27/national/27RELI.html?tntemail0

A Nun Feels Betrayed - New York Times
NEWTON, Mass, April 26 " Sister Marie LaBollita had just read a newspaper article about the Rev. Paul R. Shanley, a Catholic priest who had been assigned to a Newton parish despite a record of sexual abuse, when her telephone rang. One of her parishioners, Paula Ford, needed to talk to her.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/27/national/27NUN.html?tntemail0

Flush Times for Lawyer Vanguard in Church Suits - New York Times
Lawyers who sue Catholic dioceses over sexual abuse are now facing the difficulties of too much attention, too many cases and competition on the horizon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/27/national/27LAWY.html?tntemail0

In Chicago, Group Urges a Suspension of Donations - New York Times
CHICAGO, April 26 A group of Roman Catholic businessmen here is raising new criticism about how the Archdiocese of Chicago has handled complaints of sexual abuse by priests, urging parishioners to spurn the collection plate until the church adopts a zero-tolerance policy.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/27/national/27CHIC.html?tntemail0

Philadelphia's Cardinal Says U.S. Delegation Agrees on Zero Tolerance - New York Times
PHILADELPHIA, April 26 " Contending that there has been a widespread misunderstanding of the results of the hierarchy's visit to the Vatican, Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua of Philadelphia declared today that all American cardinals were firmly agreed on a zero-tolerance policy toward any Roman Catholic priest considered guilty of sexually abusing minors.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/27/national/27CARD.html?tntemail0


APRIL 26
The Pope Just Doesn't Get It - Globe & Mail Opinion
As cardinals discuss priestly abuse, the Vatican acts as if the real scandal is raising the subject at all
http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/GIS.Servlets.HTMLTemplate?tf=tgam/search/tgam/SearchFullStory.html&cf=tgam/search/tgam/SearchFullStory.cfg&configFileLoc=tgam/config&encoded_keywords=pope&option=&start_row=1&current_row=1&start_row_offset1=&num_rows=1&search_results_start=1

Weakland accepts zero-tolerance recommendation - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
St. Francis - The Milwaukee Roman Catholic archdiocese should adopt a zero-tolerance policy for priests who sexually abuse minors and should contract with an outside victim-assistance group to field complaints from victims uncomfortable coming to either the church or to civil authorities, a community commission appointed by the archbishop advised Friday.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/apr02/38280.asp

Cardinals' statement viewed as good start - Omaha World Herald
The cardinals' distinction between serial and first-time abusers "shows how badly the bishops need to have other voices involved," said Patty Hawk, chairwoman of Call to Action Nebraska, a group pushing for election of bishops and expansion of the clergy to include married priests and women.
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=54&u_sid=376461

Cardinal George: Abuse comments misunderstood - AP
Chicago Cardinal Francis George said women's advocates misunderstood his comments about p

While at the Vatican meeting of American cardinals to discuss the abuse scandal this week, George said there is a difference between serial pedophiles and those who have sex with an adolescent girl of 16 or 17. The remarks drew an angry response from both the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests and the National Organization for Women.http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/showcase/chi-020426george.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed

Vatican summit confounds, angers - USA Today
Linda Pieczynski, president of the Catholic laity group Call To Action, says the summit failed in two ways: ''They didn't come up with any solutions much different than ones proposed by bishops since 1992. And they didn't hold the cardinals accountable.''
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/26/results-summit.htm

They want to keep faith, but with more of a voice - Philadelphia Daily News
This afternoon just before 4, Joe Boyle, of Drexel Hill, will head to the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul on the Parkway where six American cardinals will be saying Mass - but he won't be going inside.

Instead, Boyle, the local leader of a Catholic reform group called Call to Action, will join as many as several hundred protesters, waving a hand-painted placard that reads: "Dialogue, Empowerment, and Laity Decisions." Roughly 2,000 years after the birth of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church has come to a crossroads - both in America and around theworld.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/3141779.htm

Gay priests, supporters seen as target of report - Dallas Morning News
"I think this is an attack on gays," said Linda Pieczynski, spokeswoman for the liberal Catholic group Call To Action. "It satisfies the right wing and does absolutely nothing to cure the problem."
http://www.dallasnews.com/religion/stories/042602dnvatican.3543.html

Cardinals' statement falls short - Lincoln Journal Star Opinion
The vague statement issued by the 12 U.S. cardinals after their meeting at the Vatican was a disappointment to those who wanted a clear policy on how the Roman Catholic Church will work with secular authorities to protect society against sexual predators.
http://www.journalstar.com/opinion?story_id=1967&past=

Leonard Pitts Jr.: Cleric should blame Church, not villainize homosexuality - Omaha World Herald Opinion
MIAMI - So, have you been following the sex scandal in the Catholic Church? Been wondering how it happened and whom to blame?

You silly person. Isn't it obvious? Blame the homosexuals.
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=609&u_sid=376375

New groups push for change - National Catholic Reporter
It was impossible to avoid the humor, despite the serious discussion, when about 400 Catholics, members of two lay organizations that have formed in the wake of the sex abuse scandal here, gathered to discuss reforms they would like to see in the church.

They met, after all, on Patriot's Day, April 15, a state holiday recalling the American Revolution, in the western suburbs of revolutionary Boston. But this time the "shot heard round the church" may well have been set off with Power Point and the Internet.
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/042602/042602a.htm

Belleville diocese plans 'lay synod' - National Catholic Reporter
Catholics in southern Illinois, motivated by the clergy sex abuse scandal throughout the country, are planning a June 8 "lay synod" for the Belleville diocese.
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/042602/042602d.htm

Don't expect change at meeting, some say - National Catholic Reporter
Nothing short of the bishops donning sackcloth and ashes in a public display of repentance for sex abuse by priests will satisfy some critics. However, those expecting the U.S. bishops to make significant changes at their spring meeting are probably unrealistic.
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/042602/042602e.htm

Listening to survivors sets direction of diocese's ministry - National Catholic Reporter
As the sex abuse scandal continues to upend church life in the United States, at least one bishop has earned respect and even praise from survivors of abuse for listening to them and for establishing a strong ministry on their behalf.

Listening has played a large role in the development of the Ministry for Survivors of Clergy Sexual Abuse in the Oakland, Calif., diocese. The ministry is led by diocesan chancellor Barbara Flannery, a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/042602/042602f.htm

Holding each other and healing - National Catholic Reporter
Wounds are being opened in the church. We must name them. We must learn to find each other -- to leave the places of our comfort and seek each other out. There is a "knowing" in us that things will get better, though that knowing is one of hope, not exactitude. It is why we hold each other when there is not much else to say. It is why I write this day, writing from my pain but knowing that some good is coming.
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/042602/042602c.htm

From church's suffering, healing can begin - National Catholic Reporter
As an adult, I became a Catholic and then embarked upon the study of theology. My conversion was a response to the actions of God within me, calling me out of my former Protestant faith and my former life as an attorney and into a new life as a Catholic theologian. I was often startled and dismayed when my fellow Catholics would look at me, in apparent puzzlement and disbelief, and ask me why I would voluntarily become a Roman Catholic.
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/042602/042602j.htm

Courage needed for complex, painful cure - National Catholic Reporter Editorial
The Catholic family is hurting as never before. It is facing two crises: the sex abuse scandal and a leadership meltdown.
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/042602/042602m.htm

Rock Hill priest indicted for lewd act on minor - AP
ROCK HILL, South Carolina - A priest who has spent three years conducting Mass for Spanish-speaking Catholics in York County has been indicted on a charge of committing a lewd act on a minor.

Castano, 44, was arrested one day after the church suspended him to investigate sexual misconduct last month
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020426/ap_wo_en_ge/us_church_abuse_charge_1

Bishop to seek out 5 who claim abuse - San Jose Mercury News
The spiritual leader of 400,000 Roman Catholics would like to apologize to five men who say they were sexually abused as boys by their San Jose parish priest during the 1970s.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/krsanjose/20020426/lo/bishop_to_seek_out_5_who_claim_abuse_1.html

Bevilacqua vows zero tolerance - Philadelphia Inquirer
Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua last night sought to assure his archdiocese's 1.5 million Roman Catholics that he has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to removing any priest who has sexually abused a minor.

If there is proof that a priest committed "just one act," the cardinal said, holding up an index finger before a roomful of reporters, that priest will "never function as a priest in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia."
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/3142294.htm

ANALYSIS: Church strains on new issue: Gay clergymen - Detroit Free Press
Like many of his brethren, Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida has struggled to come to terms with the issues surrounding the sex abuse scandal that has splintered the Catholic church.

A careful and deliberate speaker, Maida strained to answer questions whenever the word "homosexual" came up in the same sentence with the word "priest" during two days of historic meetings at the Vatican.
http://www.freep.com/news/religion/priest26_20020426.htm

Report: Pope To Give Law Vatican Job - Boston Channel
Cardinal Bernard Law could be leaving Boston for a promotion, according to areport Friday.
http://treets.thebostonchannel.com/svc/lnk.cfm?l=8403635&t=1

The Church Scandal, Unresolved - New York Times Letters
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/26/opinion/L26CHUR.html?tntemail0

Head of Bishops' Group Cites a Split Over Past Abuse Cases - New York Time
Amid mounting criticism over the results of the Vatican meeting this week on sexual abuse by priests, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said yesterday that top American church officials remained deeply divided over whether they should end the career of any priest who has been accused of abusing a child years before.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/26/national/26BISH.html?pagewanted=print&position=top

For Many, Questions of Church Leadership Remain - New York Times
BOSTON, April 25 " The two-day conference of American cardinals at the Vatican on how to deal with sexual abuse by priests did little to soften the anger of many Roman Catholics in Boston toward their church or their embattled archbishop, Cardinal Bernard F. Law.

In interviews here today at the center of the crisis a number of priests, theologians and ordinary Catholics said the Vatican meeting underscored their belief that church leaders still did not understand what to doabout priests who abuse minors and bishops who cover up their misdeeds.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/26/national/26BOST.html?pagewanted=print&position=top

Damage-Control Mode - New York Times
The statement issued by the American cardinals at the end of their meeting this week in Rome is, when stripped of its theological language, the sort of document that any institution in crisis might issue as an exercise in damage control.

It has the qualities of classic public relations and litigation-avoidance statements, the passive voice, the action plans, the factual quibbling and the distinctly conditional acceptance of responsibility.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/26/national/26LEGA.html?pagewanted=print&position=top

Philadelphia to Convene a Grand Jury on Accusations of Abuse - Reuters
PHILADELPHIA, April 25 " The Philadelphia district attorney plans to convene a grand jury to investigate accusations of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests.

The inquiry, one of a handful of grand jury investigations begun in the United States since the church's sexual-abuse scandal erupted in Boston, will also look into any attempted cover-ups of criminal behavior bychurch officials or others, the authorities said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/26/national/26PHIL.html?pagewanted=print&position=top

New Documents Show Church Knew of Concern About Priest - New York Times
BOSTON, April 25 " The Archdiocese of Boston today released more documents showing that top church officials knew for years about a priest's advocacy of sex between men and boys.

The documents should have been released three weeks ago, when, in response to a judge's order, the Roman Catholic archdiocese turned over 800 pages of records concerning the Rev. Paul R. Shanley to lawyers for aman who said Father Shanley had molested him as a child. But archdiocesan officials said today that they did not find the additional 816 pages until late last week, when they were looking for records in the case of another accused priest.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/26/national/26SHAN.html?pagewanted=print&position=top

Abusive Priests Are Varied, but Treatable, Center Found - New York Times
They came to a peaceful retreat in the mountains of New Mexico, bearing emotional troubles and sexual secrets.

Some had sinned with women; some, with men. Others were depressed or angry or anxious. One monk came for treatment of a foot fetish that drove him to steal socks. A priest from Africa arrived after it was discovered that he had several wives and many children.

But hundreds of the clergymen were sent to the treatment program in Jemez Springs because they had molested minors.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/26/national/26TREA.html?pagewanted=print&position=top

Cardinal McCarrick says the pope's heart is broken - Cleveland Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND--Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a key Roman Catholic leader, came to Cleveland last night and declared that his church has the ability and the wisdom to rid itself of all sex crimes against children by priests.
http://www.cleveland.com/abuse/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/cuyahoga/101982210141630.xml

Priests want mental records withheld - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Five priests named in past allegations of child sexual abuse asked a judge yesterday to block the Cleveland Catholic Diocese from turning over potentially sensitive medical documents to the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office. The documents contain details of psychological
treatment that the priests received following the allegations but that they believe to be privileged and confidential, according to court documents filed in Common Pleas Court.
http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/cuyahoga/10198134972093246.xml

Stricken shepherds - Cleveland Plain Dealer Op-Ed
The Vatican seemed so unmoved by the sex abuse scandal consuming the Ameri can Catholic church that it was hard to expect much out of the two-day meeting in Rome with the fretful U.S. cardinals....The cardinals' courage has failed. The burden of true pastoral leadership now falls to
their brother bishops.
http://www.cleveland.com/editorials/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/opinion/101981362220932118.xml

Accused Priest Blames Cultural Differences - Los Angeles Times
The Pomona clergyman alleged to have molested two girls acknowledges wrestling with them but says such contact is common among Filipinos.

Speaking from the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, Bismonte said that hugging and physical contact with children is far more accepted in his Filipino culture. "I'm sorry this has come this far," hesaid, blaming the wave of current allegations against priests for his plight.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-042502priests.story

Catholic Lite Won't Heal These Wounds - Los Angeles Times Opinion
The pope has flatly condemned clerical sexual abuse. The American cardinals have met in Rome to get strict clergy personnel policies on a fast track to Vatican approval. Every senior leader in the Catholic
Church is now focused intensely on the crisis. In this moment of pause between the historic Vatican meetings this week and the U.S. bishops' June meeting in Dallas, could everyone please take a deep breath so thata few essential points can be clarified?
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-000029608apr26.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Dopinions

The Vatican's response - Louisville Courier-Journal Op-Ed
MANY American Catholics, and particularly the victims and parents of victims of sexual abuse by priests, are disappointed by the outcome of this week's meeting between Pope John Paul II and the cardinals of the United States.
http://www.courier-journal.com/cjextra/editorials/020426-1.htm

Files show Shanley tried blackmail - Boston Globe
Letter threatened Medeiros with 'shocking' revelations; late cardinal spurned effort

The Rev. Paul R. Shanley, the priest who approved of sex between men and boys, tried to blackmail former Cardinal Humberto S. Medeiros into reversing his decision to end Shanley's 1970s-era street ministry, according to documents released yesterday by church lawyers acting under a court order.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/116/metro/Files_show_Shanley_tried_blackmail+.shtml

Nuns' group to seek greater voice in Rome - Boston Globe
WASHINGTON - A US delegation of Roman Catholic nuns travels to Rome today prepared to deliver Vatican officials a frank letter denouncing the church's handling of sexual abuse cases and calling for power-sharing with religious women and an open dialogue on human sexuality.

Pruitt, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a Vatican-sanctioned group that represents a majority of US Catholic sisters, is leading the four-woman delegation to Rome.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/116/nation/Nuns_group_to_seek_greater_voice_in_Rome+.shtml

Bishops at Vatican reportedly discussing the future of Law - Boston Globe
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican's Congregation of Bishops has begun an examination of how it will determine whether Cardinal Bernard F. Law has lost his capacity to govern the Archdiocese of Boston, according to two Vatican sources.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/116/nation/Bishops_at_Vatican_reportedly_discussing_the_future_of_Law+.shtml

N.H. bishop backs Rome - AP
CONCORD, N.H. - Bishop John McCormack said yesterday the Roman Catholic Church needs to do more to deal with sexual abuse of children by clergy, but he is encouraged by the Vatican's response to the growing scandal.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/116/metro/N_H_bishop_backs_Rome+.shtml

Pope reported set to give Law Vatican posting
PHILADELPHIA - Embattled Boston archbishop Bernard Cardinal Law, under siege from the epic sex scandal threatening his 18-year legacy, will likely be replaced and sent to the Vatican by the beginning of June, according to sources.

Law, who arrived in Newark, N.J., yesterday after the historic two-day conclave of American cardinals at the Vatican, will be reassigned by Pope John Paul II to an as-yet determined position prior to a scheduled deposition of Law in a legal suit against the archdiocese, according to church officials.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/rome04262002.htm

Scandal backlash costs Catholic Charities $800G - Boston Herald
Catholic Charities' Boston branch was turned down for nearly $1 million in corporate grants this month because of the church's pedophilia scandal.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/dona04262002.htm

Archdiocese sued over alleged sex abuse - The Courier-Journal
Retired priest's actions now subject of three filings

Two more people sued the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville yesterday over allegations that the Rev. Louis E. Miller sexually abusedthem in the 1960s and 1970s.
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2002/04/26/ke042602s194911.htm

The Pope speaks - Albany Times Union Op-Ed
From a Catholic Church very much under siege comes this belated but unmistakable warning: Sexual abuse by priests is a sin against God and a crime against secular authority. There. Pope John Paul II's decree renders all the other excuses and qualifications and denials unacceptable, doesn't it?

Where does that leave, for instance, the advisory committee that Bishop Howard Hubbard put together last month to help the Albany diocese come up with a policy for dealing with sexually deviant priests? Wouldn't that be unnecessary in the future, in light of a papal assertion that there's noplace in religious life for those who harm the young?
http://timesunion.com/aspstories/storyprint.asp?storyKey=81608

Cardinals' dinner faces protests - USA Today
PHILADELPHIA (AP) " U.S. cardinals gathering for an annual benefit dinner Friday faced planned protests and continued questions about their handling of the priest sex abuse scandals. Eight U.S. cardinals, including embattled Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, were expected at Friday night's $1,000-a-plate fund-raiser for Catholic University.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/26/cardinals.htm

Church's stance on abuse stuns victims - Philadelphia Inquirer
U.S. cardinals stopped short of proposing a no-tolerance policy. "They are closing their eyes," said a man abused 40 years ago.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/3142290.htm

Court showed him lot of mercy - Philadelphia Daily News
Priest got light penalty for sex assault

But on Feb. 2, 1985, Martins broke his vows, and he broke the law. Alone with the altar boy in his bedroom on the third floor of the church rectory, he told the boy to undress. Then he exposed himself and forced the child to have anal sex. Unlike most of the 35 other priests whom the Philadelphia Catholic archdiocese recently identified as having committed acts of sexual abuse against minors, Martins was arrested. He is believed to be the only priest to be arrested and convicted in Philadelphia on sexual abuse charges in the last 30 years. But interviews and court records reviewed by the Daily News reveal that the sins of Martins were easily forgiven. And that ultimately, his penance amounted to a few weeksin jail and a one-way ticket back to Brazil.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/3143411.htm

Parental perspective missing - Philadelphia Inquirer Opinion
MAYBE IF they had kids, they'd get it.

Maybe if one of them - just one - were a parent, his blind fury at what's been done to children by perverted priests would have forced America's Catholic cardinals and bishops do the right thing by now.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/3141782.htm

Illinois bill would force church to report abuse - Chicago Tribune
Even as Catholic leaders struggle to set policies for dealing with sexual abuse by priests, civil authorities across the country are moving independently to force church officials to disclose allegations of abuse.

On Thursday, state Sen. Dan Cronin (R-Elmhurst) proposed that Illinois join states that require church officials to report suspicions that amember of the clergy has abused a child.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=chi%2D0204260256apr26

Joliet diocese to give up files - Chicago Tribune
Church hierarchy hopes to prevent public disclosure

After refusing for nine years to give prosecutors information about priests accused of sexually abusing children, the Catholic Diocese of Joliet offered Thursday to hand over the files, a move intended to
prevent the documents from being released publicly. Diocesan chancellor Sister Judith Davies refused to say how many priests were identified in the files. But a victim's lawyer who sought in court to unseal thedocuments said there were at least 16 priests.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/showcase/chi-0204260327apr26.story

Mixed Reviews Are Likely As U.S. Cardinals Return - Washington Post
Critics Say Prelates Avoided Responsibility in Priests' Abuse

The leaders of the U.S. Catholic Church who headed home from Rome yesterday after two days of meetings with Pope John Paul II can expect a mixed reception to the communiqué they issued on the problem of sexualabuse by priests, according to interviews with a range of church experts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50985-2002Apr25.html

The Vatican's Muddle - Washington Post Opinion
The cardinals have to hope that God is both good and merciful after the muddle produced by this week's meeting in Rome called to address the anger and disquiet of loyal Catholics over the church's handling of thismiserable scandal.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51311-2002Apr25.html

HEAL ME, FATHER - AlterNet
While American bishops meeting with the Pope hammered out a policy for priests who prey on kids, a psychologist who counsels clergy claims it's not so hard to screen potential abusers.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12952

Catholics See Child Abuse as Global - AP
Catholics worldwide on Thursday welcomed Pope John Paul II's unprecedented summit with U.S. cardinals as a good start to tackling child abuse within the Catholic church, but court cases kept surfacing to remind the Vatican that this is a global scandal.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020425/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_scandal_world_reax_5

Uninspired - Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial
Cardinals don't seem to understand depth of anguish, anger over scandal.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/3142317.htm

Now for the hard work - Baltimore Sun Editorial
IF AMERICA'S cardinals take credit for a proposal to defrock the "notorious" priests, the serial abusers who sexually molest children, they shouldn't. That was the least anyone would have expected from the country's top Catholic prelates, who just concluded an unprecedented session on the problem with Vatican leaders.

It's the punishment of priests who haven't yet made a name for themselves, the clerics who are guilty all the same, that causes concern. Can the church leadership assure parishioners that the priest caught molesting once or twice isn't a serial abuser? That's the dilemma facing the U.S. Conference of Bishops when it meets in June to formalize the proposals put forth in the Rome meeting.
http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/bal-ed.priest26apr26.story?coll=bal%2Dopinion%2Dheadlines

Priestly Sin, Cover-Up - ABC 20/20
April 26 - A trusted ally of Pope John Paul II has been accused of sexually abusing boys a half-century ago at an elite seminary for the Catholic Church.

The alleged victims say the Vatican knew of the allegations against Father Marcial Maciel and chose not to pursue them.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/DailyNews/2020_Vatican_coverup_020426.html

Protesters plan to greet cardinals - Philadelphia Daily News
Call to Action, which says it's the largest Catholic Church reform group in the United States with 25,000 members, is expected to have about 50 protesters at this afternoon's rally.

"Our leaders are very isolated. They ask the lay people to put money in the basket and leave their brains at home," said local Call to Action spokesman Joe Boyle, who owns a heating and air-conditioning firm in Havertown.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/3141780.htm

Bishops, media views of 'zero tolerance' create gap in perceptions - Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- U.S. church leaders left a Vatican summit on clerical sex abuse saying they felt encouraged to take new steps to curb such abuse and rein in offenders.

But they arrived home in the United States to a largely negative reaction and headlines that read: "Cardinals Confront Sex Abuse and Come Up Short," and "Vatican Summit Confounds, Angers."
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/20020426.htm

Law not taking Vatican job, representative says - USA Today
PHILADELPHIA - Boston Cardinal Bernard Law Friday denied reports that he was taking a new position at the Vatican in June in time to avoid giving deposition in a sex abuse suit against his archdiocese. The cardinal, under pressure to resign over the sex abuse scandal gripping the U.S. Catholic church, sent word to the public through the Rev. David O'Connell at a press conference before a scholarship dinner for The Catholic University.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/26/law2.htm

Sex scandal reaches armed forces chaplains - AP
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal has been felt in the military, where a handful of priests serving as chaplains have been punished after molesting children or making sexual advances toward adults. In one case, the Dallas Roman Catholic diocese ordered a priest who was accused of molesting boys to join the Army, where he later confessed to molesting a boy, according to evidence in a lawsuit.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/26/chaplain.htm

Catholic sex abuse scandal is global - Chicago Tribune
LONDON -- The Vatican summit of American cardinals helped focus worldwide attention on the scandal of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests in the United States, but dozens of similar cases in other countries show the problem is not limited to America.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0204260254apr26.story

Weakland backs removing abusers - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
He embraces panel's suggestions, including 'zero tolerance'

St. Francis - Catholic priests who sexually abuse even one minor should be permanently removed from ministry, and the archdiocese should have outside groups field complaints from victims uncomfortable coming to church authorities, a community commission appointed by the archbishop advised Friday.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/Metro/apr02/38280.asp

Report wins mostly favorable reviews, though concern about follow-up - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Key recommendations on how the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese should handle priest sexual abuse won general support Friday from a priest, a businessman, a psychotherapist who treats abusers and a frequent critic of Archbishop Rembert Weakland.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/Metro/apr02/38425.asp

Report on sexual abuse allegations - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Following is the text of a preliminary report from a community commission appointed by the Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland on how to deal with sexual abuse allegations against priests.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/Metro/apr02/38290.asp

See no evil - Salon
By utterly failing to address the church's sex abuse scandal this week in Rome, the Catholic aristocracy demonstrated its complete irrelevance.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/04/26/kennedy_rome/index_np.html?x

U.S. cardinals share blame for assaults - Detroit Free Press Opinion
A funny thing happened on the way to the Vatican.

Pope John Paul II and America's 12 cardinals met and agreed, in principle, to create a process to defrock any priest who becomes "notorious and is guilty of the serial, predatory sexual abuse of minors." (Since Webster's describes notorious as generally known, that lets the secret predators, meaning those who don't advertise, off the hook).

But what the cardinals forgot to pack for the Vatican trip were responsibility, culpability and guilt. What the cardinals didn't discuss was their own lack of leadership.
http://www.freep.com/news/metro/riley26_20020426.htm

APRIL 25
Catholics Seethe Over Cardinals' 'Arrogance'
BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. Roman Catholics on Thursday said the meetings this week between U.S. cardinals and Vatican (news - web sites) officials on the child-abuse scandal did not restore trust in the church leadership and actually made matters worse.

"You need to change the structure, and to do that, you have to change who has the power in the church," said Linda Pieczynski, spokeswoman for Call to Action, a national group that advocates democratization in the Catholic Church.

"They don't really get the basic issue: People are upset because after the church found out about the abuse, they didn't tell people and made it worse by delivering victims on a silver platter," she said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=5&u=/nm/20020425/ts_nm/crime_church_dc_18

Pilla stays decision on whether to adopt no tolerance' policy - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Cleveland Catholic Bishop Anthony Pilla said yesterday that he is holding off on deciding whether priests who have abused minors can be returned to ministry, but some alleged victims want church leaders to take immediate action.
http://www.cleveland.com/abuse/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/cuyahoga/10197321091419210.xml

KC diocese spent thousands after two allegations of abuse - The Kansas City Star
Sexual abuse allegations against a Catholic bishop led the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph to spend thousands of dollars on two families in the 1990s. The money went toward counseling sessions and a new pickup truck.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/3132120.htm

Community, family valued parish priest
Kevin Hunter told his brother that he had been sexually abused by Hart on the trip in 1971 -- an allegation that Hart denies.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/news/3132118.htm

Dismissals for 'Serial' Cases but Leeway Is Possible in Others - New York Times
ROME, Thursday, April 25 - At the end of two days of meetings with Pope John Paul II and other top Vatican officials on how to prevent clerical sexual abuse, American cardinals on Wednesday night issued a set of proposals intended to help remove priests who abuse minors. But the recommendations were far murkier than the zero-tolerance policy that had been promised by some cardinals just hours earlier.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/25/national/25VATI.html

Egan Breaks His Silence, and Emphasizes Children - New York Times
But today Cardinal Egan broke his silence in a brief interview as he headed to the Vatican for the cardinals' closing session. He described grueling talks with the pope and other Vatican officials and repeated what cardinals have been saying - their overriding concern is the safety of children.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/25/nyregion/25EGAN.html

Vatican Deliberations - New York Times
With guidance from Pope John Paul II, the American cardinals who gathered at the Vatican this week began the work of rescuing the Roman Catholic Church from the debilitating clerical sex scandals that have so shaken the church in the United States. Much of what was done in Rome was constructive, particularly the pope's strong condemnation of the predatory sexual practices of priests and his acknowledgment that the molestation of children is a crime. Yet even as the cardinals moved to confront the problem and deal more openly and forcefully with abusive priests, they failed to embrace the kind of disciplinary reforms that would decisively break with past mistakes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/25/opinion/_25THU1.html

McCarrick Is Public Voice of U.S. Group - New York Times
ROME, April 24 - As American Roman Catholic leaders announced tonight what measures they had taken to address the church's sexual abuse scandal, it had been expected that many if not all of the 12 cardinals who had met with the pope would be on hand. But in the end only one American cardinal who heads an archdiocese, Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, was at the podium.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/25/national/25TED.html

Newspapers Move to Unseal Documents on Abuse Lawsuits - New York Times
WATERBURY, Conn., April 24 - Lawyers for The New York Times and The Hartford Courant urged a judge today to officially unseal confidential court records related to more than two dozen lawsuits involving Connecticut priests who were accused of sexually abusing children.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/25/nyregion/25BRID.html

L.I. Diocese Adding Laypeople to Panel on Priestly Abuse - New York Times
UNIONDALE, N.Y., April 24 - The bishop of the Rockville Centre Roman Catholic Diocese announced today that non-Catholics and law enforcement experts, including a former Nassau County police commissioner, would help handle future allegations of sexual abuse by priests.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/25/nyregion/25DIOC.html

Abuse Victims Skeptical After Summit - AP
For victims of clerical sex abuse, the communique U.S. prelates issued after their Vatican summit ended was more significant for what was not said than for what was. There was no pledge to publicly disclose the names of Roman Catholic priests who molest children, no promise to immediately report abuse claims to law enforcement authorities and no specifics on helping victims.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Vatican-US-Catholics.html

National: 1-Strike Plan Splits Group - New York Times
News Analysis ROME, Thursday, April 25 - Nine years ago at a meeting in New Orleans, Roman Catholic bishops in the United States met to discuss a national policy to stop priests from sexually abusing children.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/25/national/25ASSE.html?tntemail0

Gag Order on Abuse Victims Lifted - AP
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York has freed sex abuse victims from any legal promises they made to remain silent about their cases and the priests they accused.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Church-Abuse.html

American Cardinals Fly Home to Face the Music - Reuters
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - American cardinals, their prestige and authority battered by child sex scandals, flew home on Thursday after unprecedented talks at the Vatican to try to convince U.S. Catholics to trust them with their children. ``We realize this is going to be tough but we are determined to do it,'' one of the participants, Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore, told Reuters in a telephone interview before leaving.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-pope-pedophilia.html

Prelates Back Ouster of 'Notorious' Clergy - Washington Post
VATICAN CITY, April 24 -- After two days of private meetings with Pope John Paul II, leaders of the U.S. Roman Catholic church called for changes in church law to speed the removal of priests who molest children, but stopped short of urging a blanket "one strike you're out" policy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44390-2002Apr24.html

U.S. Catholics Critical of Church Hoped for More From Cardinals - Washington Post
American Catholics strongly critical of the church's past handling of sex abuse in the priesthood expressed disappointment yesterday that U.S. cardinals did not issue bolder recommendations at the close of their two-day conclave in Rome with Pope John Paul II.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44132-2002Apr24.html

A Program To Deal With 'Appalling Sin' - Washington Post
Following are excerpts from a statement issued after two days of meetings in Rome between Pope John Paul II and leaders of the U.S. Catholic church.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44749-2002Apr24.html

Priests-to-Be Want Open Discussion - Washington Post
ROME, April 24 -- Just a coin toss from Trevi Fountain, earnest young theological students at the Pontifical Gregorian University march resolutely to and from class, books under arm and confusion on the mind.

Many are future Roman Catholic priests, nuns, bishops and cardinals. There may even be a pope among them. They have closely followed the talks in the Vatican about the child sex abuse scandals involving American priests. And even as American cardinals agreed today on strong guidelines aimed at wiping out pedophilia from clerical ranks, some of the students said they felt somewhat unsure so far about the nature of the problem and its eventual solution. But on a few things they seemed to agree: The issue is important, it is not just an American phenomenon, and it has to be discussed in the open.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44750-2002Apr24.html

Grand Jury To Investigate Priests in Pa. - Washington Post
PHILADELPHIA, April 24 -- A day after Pope John Paul II branded pedophilia in the church a crime, the Philadelphia district attorney today announced a grand jury investigation into alleged sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44034-2002Apr24.html

From Rome, A 'Limited Hangout' - Washington Post Opinion
The age-old formula for a sinner seeking absolution in a Catholic confessional -- "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned" -- has been revised during the current scandal. On the eve of the 12 U.S. cardinals' summit in Rome, Cardinal Edward Egan of New York issued a letter to the faithful in which he changed the formulation to "Forgive me, Father, I may have sinned."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44668-2002Apr24.html

Accused Priest Blames Cultural Differences - Los Angeles Times
Crime: The Pomona clergyman alleged to have molested two girls acknowledges wrestling with them but says such contact is common among Filipinos. A Pomona priest in jail on suspicion of molesting two girls said Wednesday that the allegations stem from a cultural misunderstanding.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000029477apr25.story

Gay Catholics angry, say they've been singled out - USA Today
Gay Catholics were livid Wednesday when some church leaders meeting in Rome appeared to blame the sex abuse scandal on homosexual priests. Spokeswomen for two groups say they fear a "witch hunt" in which homosexuals will be banned from entering the priesthood and driven from current pulpits. At a press conference after the two-day crisis meeting among America's top clerics, the pope and Vatican officials, two cardinals and the USA's top bishop detailed the "skeletal outline" of a proposed new policy. It would set nationwide procedures for rapidly defrocking serial pedophiles and assessing the danger of new abuse cases with local review boards led by lay people.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/25/gay-catholics.htm

Results leave some disappointed - Boston Globe
They expressed their concern for children. They promised to crack down on abusive priests. They smiled for Connie Chung and Matt Lauer. And in the end, the Roman Catholic Church's top American leaders wrapped up their two-day meeting at the Vatican having done exactly what they said they would do: They began discussions about a national policy on child protection to be finalized in June.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/115/nation/Results_leave_some_disappointed+.shtml

Cardinals offer policy on abuse, stopping short of 'zero tolerance' - Boston Globe
VATICAN CITY - The American Catholic Church's top clerics yesterday issued an outline of new procedures to investigate priests accused of sexual misconduct and dismiss priests guilty of sexually abusing a minor, but stopped short of calling for the automatic dismissal of all sexually abusive priests.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/115/nation/Cardinals_offer_policy_on_abuse_stopping_short_of_zero_tolerance_+.shtml

From crisis to 'a holier priesthood' - Boston Globe
On April 23-24, 2002, an extraordinary meeting was held in the Vatican between the cardinals of the United States and the leadership of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops and the heads of several offices of the Holy See on the subject of the sexual abuse of minors.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/115/nation/From_crisis_to_a_holier_priesthood_+.shtml

Archdiocese discovers more Shanley documents - Boston Globe
The Boston Archdiocese said yesterday that it was embarrassed to disclose it has discovered additional records in the case of the Rev. Paul R. Shanley showing that church officials knew Shanley had advocated sex between men and boys yet allowed him to continue working as a parish priest.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/115/metro/Archdiocese_discovers_more_documents+.shtml

At cross-purposes? In covering the sex abuse crisis, the Catholic press must reconcile Church and fourth estate - Boston Globe
In a March 15 edition of The Pilot devoted to the mushrooming sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, executive editor Monsignor Peter V. Conley wrote an editorial that instantly made national news. Under the headline ''Questions that must be faced,'' The Pilot - the 173 -year-old paper of the Boston Archdiocese - wondered about the celibacy requirement for clergy, the prohibition against female priests, and the possibility that the priesthood attracts a disproportionate number of homosexuals. Those words generated intense media and public interest as well as a statement by Cardinal Bernard F. Law, the paper's publisher, saying the editorial ''unfortunately created confusion.'' In the next issue, Conley published another editorial, explaining that the paper's desire to ''take notice'' of questions raised by lay leaders should not be construed as a desire ''to call for changes in Church policies.''
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/115/living/At_cross_purposes_+.shtml

Vatican's muffled voice - Boston Globe Editorial
THE STATEMENTS issued yesterday at the Vatican provided incomplete advice to US bishops as they devise a policy regarding sexually abusive priests. These were very much documents written within the clerical culture, and they failed to address the crisis of confidence among the laity that is most acutely expressed in the Boston Archdiocese.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/115/editorials/Vatican_s_muffled_voice+.shtml

2 more suits allege clergy sexual abuse - Boston Globe - AP
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Two more men have filed lawsuits saying they were sexually abused by Catholic priests. In one lawsuit, Daniel Whitehouse of Rochester alleges he was molested by the Rev. Paul L. Aube from 1979 to 1986. Lawyer Mark Abramson said the abuse occurred at Holy Rosary Church in Rochester.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/115/metro/2_more_suits_allege_clergy_sexual_abuse+.shtml

What celibacy's got to do with it - Boston Globe Opinion
After all, as the wind of sexual abuse shakes more priests out of the trees, it has become routine to wonder: What's behind all this? The word celibacy comes up in one story after another. Churchgoers and church-watchers repeatedly say, ''We need to talk about permitting married priests.''
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/115/oped/What_celibacy_s_got_to_do_with_it+.shtml

Rome meetings fail, state leaders don't - Boston Herald
Attorney General Tom Reilly was truly prescient when he said that what happened at the State House Tuesday would do more to protect children than anything that happened in Rome this week.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/edt04252002.htm

Experts say summit missed opportunity - Boston Herald
The proposals offered by American cardinals following their historic two-day summit at the Vatican disappointed civil and theological experts who said the princes of the church missed a golden opportunity to address the exploding sex abuse scandal.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/expe04252002.htm

Diocese puts Wendell priest on suspension - News & Observer
Roman Catholic Bishop F. Joseph Gossman has temporarily removed a priest from a Wendell church after receiving allegations of sexual misconduct involving a seminary student 26 years ago and inappropriate contact with three other adults since then.

The Rev. Thomas Watkins, 61, of St. Eugene Catholic Church denied the allegations through a church spokesman but could not be reached for comment.

Watkins is the third priest Gossman has removed from duties in the past two weeks amid increasing reports nationwide of sexual abuse involving clergy.

Catholic Critics: Homosexuals Not Pedophiles - The San Diego Channel
Groups Upset At Church's Apparent Blaming Of Homosexuals
http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/sand/news/stories/news-141933720020425-180419.html

Abuse victims slam Catholic paedophile policy - Reuters
Dublin - Victims sexually abused by Roman Catholic clergy expressed outrage on Thursday at the church's proposed two-track process for dismissing paedophile priests, deriding the idea as a sham.
http://www.itechnology.co.za/index.php?click_id=24&art_id=qw1019741221844B211&set_id=1

U.S. bishops get green light for harsher measures against sex abusers - Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The U.S.-Vatican summit on sex abuse gave a green light to bishops seeking harsher and more uniform measures against clerical sex abusers, including a new mechanism for removing offenders from the priesthood.

The April 23-24 meeting was an intermediate step, but a very important one. It offered Vatican support to U.S. bishops as they refine and formulate concrete proposals for their national meeting in mid-June
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/20020425.htm

South African Church Speaks Out on Sex Abuse - Zenit
Acknowledges Accusations Against a Few of Its Priests

The Catholic Church in South Africa acknowledged that a few of its priests had been accused of sexually abusing children, and it published part of a protocol to deal with such charges in the future.
http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=19698

How to save the church - The New Republic
The Betrayal

The crisis in the Catholic Church started as a sex scandal the way Watergate started as a burglary: What followed has become the real scandal. We all know that the sexual abuse of minors is horrific; but somehow the bishops did not react with horror. That is what truly shocks.
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020506&s=winters050602

One vision of church's future - Christian Science Monitor
Grass-roots efforts, like a California parish's new openness, comfort members.

SONOMA, CALIF. ­ In these trying days for the Roman Catholic Church, the parishioners of St. Leo's offer an unusual message: hope
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0425/p01s02-ussc.html

APRIL 24
U.S. Clerics Propose Abuse Remedies - AP
After an extraordinary meeting sparked by a sex abuse scandal, American Roman Catholic leaders agreed Wednesday to make it easier to remove priests guilty of sexually abusing minors - but they stopped short of a zero-tolerance policy to dismiss all abusive
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20020424/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_scandal_114

Philadelphia Prosecutor to Probe Priest Abuse Cases -Reuters
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A day after Pope John Paul II branded pedophilia in the church a crime, the Philadelphia district attorney on Wednesday announced a grand jury investigation into alleged sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&564&e=2&u=/nm/20020424/ts_nm/crime_church_investigation_dc_2

Capital diocese is named in two suits - Sacramento Bee
Two men -- one from Sacramento and one from Benicia -- sued the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento on Tuesday, alleging they were victims of sexual abuse by priests when they were children.

The lawsuits, filed separately, both claim that the diocese was responsible for the actions of the priests who allegedly abused them.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/2346268p-2793005c.html

Bishop takes positive step - St. Petersburg Times Opinion
Bishop Robert N. Lynch took an important step Sunday toward confronting the sex abuse scandal enveloping the Roman Catholic Church. He urged parishioners who believe they were abused by priests to go directly to the police, a reversal of the church's historical practice of handling such allegations in-house. This course is the only lawful one to follow, and the public expects no less.

A tougher question is whether Lynch should have gone a step further and included allegations of sexual abuse by adults reporting incidents that occurred when they were minors. If an adult victim brings an allegation of abuse to the church, diocesan officials will not automatically report it to authorities. They will leave that decision up to the complainants, some of whom don't want to go public.
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/04/24/Opinion/Bishop_takes_positive.shtml

An act of contrition is needed from the Catholic church - The Independent (UK)
"People need to know that there is no place in the priesthood for those who would harm the young," the Pope declared yesterday after talking to the 12 American cardinals summoned to the Vatican from the scandal-torn United States.

That's fine, as far as it goes. And it does go a lot further than the cautious comments that the Pope has made so far about the gathering crisis of paedophilia among the priesthood on both sides of the Atlantic. But the statement still does not go nearly far enough when the Church is accused not only of covering up the sins of its fathers, but actually moving those guilty of child abuse about, thus allowing them to sin again.
http://argument.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/story.jsp?story=288337

Clergy should be required to report child abuse - Seattle Times Opinion
The recent spate of scandals in the Roman Catholic Church involving pedophile priests protected by their superiors, moved from diocese to diocese, leaving a trail of victims, has raised the question: Why were these people not reported to the police for their oftentimes criminal abuse of children and adolescents?

The answer is that in many states, the clergy hierarchy that supervised them was not required by law to report.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/134441696_fortuneop24.html

Catholic Teachings Are Among Obstacles to Resolving Crisis - New York Times
Although no bishop wants to be perceived as protecting sexually abusive priests, certain fundamental church teachings are standing in the way, including the nature of the priesthood and the belief in the absolution of sin and the possibility of redemption.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/24/national/24ASSE.html

American Cardinals Resume Talks at Vatican - New York Times
Talks between the cardinals and top Vatican officials resumed Wednesday, a day after the pope opened the sessions by using the word "crime." The pontiff's phrasing Tuesday seemed to end any lingering debate about whether U.S. bishops should refer abuse accusations against priests to secular authorities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/24/national/24WIRE-VATICAN.htmll

In Rome, Little Interest in an American Problem - New York Times
ROME, April 23 - As American television networks were flying in equipment and correspondents, men from a Bavarian fraternal order dressed in lederhosen and peaked Alpine caps carried 20-foot flags down the aisles of one of Rome's most ancient churches, Santa Maria in Trastevere. For all the urgency felt in the parishes of Boston, New York and elsewhere in the United States, Rome has shown itself to be more blasé.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/24/national/24ROME.html

Pope Offers Apology to Victims of Sex Abuse by Priests - New York Times
ROME, April 23 - Pope John Paul II opened meetings today with American cardinals on clerical sex scandals with a strongly worded apology to victims. But he sent conflicting signals on a proposed zero-tolerance policy for priests who abused minors. "People need to know that there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young," the pope said in his most explicit speech on the topic. He said such sexual abuse is "by every standard wrong and is rightly considered a crime by society."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/24/national/24VATI.html

Priests Wary of Outcome of Summit - AP
The Vatican summit of U.S. cardinals on ending the American sex abuse crisis has made many Roman Catholic priests wary that they will be sacrificed in a frenzy to restore trust in the church. While clergymen remain committed to ousting pedophiles from their ranks, they worry innocent men will be suspended and priests who could be rehabilitated will instead be discarded.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Vatican-Priests.html

Pontiff says cases mishandled, voices solidarity with victims - Boston Globe
VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II, in opening remarks to American Catholic leaders he summoned to confront the priest sexual abuse crisis, said yesterday there was ''no place in the priesthood ... for those who would harm the young.''
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/114/nation/Pontiff_says_cases_mishandled_voices_solidarity_with_victims+.shtml

Hub was warned about priest: Wis. bishop told Medeiros of past sexual misconduct - Boston Herald
A Bay State priest later convicted of child molestation in Wisconsin was accepted into the Archdiocese of Boston by the late Humberto Cardinal Medeiros and reassigned by Bernard Cardinal Law even though a Wisconsin bishop had warned Boston church officials about him, records show. The Rev. Thomas F. Dempsey, who pleaded guilty to molestation charges in La Crosse, Wis., before dying on a Bellingham, Mass., golf course a year later, was assigned to parishes in Framingham and Weymouth by Law more than a decade after Bishop Frederick W. Freking of La Crosse told Medeiros he was a danger to children.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/demp04242002.htm

Issue of gay priests a recurring theme in sex scandal - Boston Herald
Among the topics the cardinals discussed yesterday during their historic meeting was whether the high percentage of gay men in the priesthood has had an effect on the handling of sex abuse allegations. Francis Cardinal George of Chicago said a ``homosexual atmosphere'' exists to some extent within many seminaries and that heterosexual men are sometimes deterred from the priesthood for fear of being stigmatized.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/gay04242002.htm

Pope Condemns Sex Abuse, but Cites Redemption - Washington Post
VATICAN CITY, April 23 -- Pope John Paul II told a gathering of U.S. cardinals today that there is "no place" for child molesters in the priesthood and declared his confidence that the church's sex abuse scandal would end with "a purification of the entire Catholic community."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37705-2002Apr23.html

Priesthood Has 'No Place' for Abusers, Pope Declares - Los Angeles Times
ROME -- Pope John Paul II, in a ringing denunciation of sexual abuse, declared Tuesday that there is no place in the Roman Catholic priesthood for those who molest the young.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-042402church.story

A Media Circus in Rome - Los Angeles Times
Vatican and U.S. bishops' officials disagree on how to deal with a deluge of reporters.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-042402circus.story

Church problems include insurance - San Francisco Chronicle
Scandal may mean higher rates
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/04/24/MN111590.DTL

Birth Control Challenge To Church Admonitions On Sex - Hartford Courant
Italy's bambino bust stands as a subtle but potent backdrop to the historic Vatican summit this week between American cardinals and the pope. While the issue raised at this week's meetings - the growing scandal of sexually abusive priests - is vastly different from the question of Italian family planning, ultimately both resound with a single theme: the continued credibility of the Roman Catholic Church.
http://www.ctnow.com/news/nationworld/hc-rinker0424.artapr24.story?coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Dhome

Catholic sex-abuse summit begins second day - USA Today
ROME - Spurred by Pope John Paul II, U.S. cardinals and Vatican officials resumed meetings Wednesday on an action plan for confronting a sex abuse scandal that has shaken the American Roman Catholic Church. At the opening of the two-day meeting Tuesday, Pope John Paul II told the assembled clerics that "there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young." And for the first time, the pope said sexual abuse by clergy is "rightly considered a crime by society" as well as "an appalling sin in the eyes of God." The pope also offered his "solidarity and concern" to victims.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/23/law.htm

Pope's comments draw mixed reviews - USA Today
Pope John Paul II's stern words for priests on Tuesday were hailed by Catholic commentators such as the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus as "tough, tough, tough!" "He cuts through all the smoke screens, all the chatter about married clergy and tra-la-la-la and other things that won't happen. He says, 'Get serious about who you are and be faithful to Catholic teachings on sexual morality,' " says Neuhaus, editor of the religion journal First Things. But others say the pontiff should have chastised American bishops for their role in the pedophilia scandal rocking the church. "This is a cover-up at the highest level," says former priest A.W. Richard Sipe, a psychotherapist who has testified in sexual abuse suits. The pope and church leaders "are still blaming everyone but themselves, saying the solution is to change the priests or throw them out."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/24/pope-reax.htm

Bridgeport Diocese Quietly Settled Lawsuits - Hartford Courant
In contrast to its recent public displays of action against sexual misconduct by clergy, the Bridgeport diocese in February quietly paid undisclosed sums to two abuse victims, rather than face more lawsuits, several people familiar with the cases said.
http://www.ctnow.com/news/nationworld/hc-priest0424.artapr24.story?coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Dhome

Pope Lays Out Agenda to US Cardinals - Yahoo News
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Using the strongest language yet, Pope John Paul II laid out the agenda for U.S. cardinals confronting the sex abuse scandal that has shaken the American faithful, decrying abuse both as a sin and a crime. Talks between the cardinals and top Vatican officials resumed Wednesday, a day after the pope opened the sessions by using the word "crime." The pontiff's phrasing Tuesday seemed to end any lingering debate about whether U.S. bishops should refer abuse accusations against priests to secular authorities.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20020424/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_scandal_66

Church took counsel from the wrong quarter - Irish Times
Grave mistakes were made by medical experts in their advice to Roman Catholic Church authorities on dealing with paedophiles, writes Dr Patricia Casey. The dictionary definition of an expert is "a person who has extensive skill or knowledge in a particular field". The Catholic Church, when confronted with the painful fact of priests abusing children, turned to experts, including lawyers, for advice on how to handle the matter.
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/opinion/2002/0423/161931213OP23CASEY.html

Catholic priest in Dallas drops appeal for reassignment - New Jersey On-Line - AP
DALLAS (AP) -- A popular Catholic priest said Tuesday he would not fight his transfer to another church because he did not run criminal background checks on church workers. The Rev. Stephen W. Bierschenk, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church for 13 years, had said last week he would appeal the reassignment to a smaller church, ordered because he did not comply with the background check requirements for church employees and volunteers under a diocesan sexual abuse prevention program. He received support from a number of parishioners, including about 2,000 who held a vigil.
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/national/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0883_BC_BRF--ChurchAbuse-Texa&&news&newsflash-national

State lawmakers agree on clergy reporting bill - Boston Globe
Breaking a deadlock, House and Senate negtiators agreed yesterday to pass a bill that would require clergy members to report suspicions of child abuse to legal authorities, saying church officials can never again sweep the issue of abuse under the rug.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/114/metro/Pope_calls_sex_abuse_crime+.shtml

For church, a false issue - Boston Globe OpinionWhen a popular gym teacher and basketball coach in Mattapoisett pleaded guilty to the rape and sexual assault of several high school girls, we sent him to prison.
When a high school band director in Miami was arrested and charged with the sexual assault of several female musicians at a previous teaching post in Michigan, we convicted him and criticized administrators at his old school for failing to tell administrators at his new school about his history.

Each of those crimes provoked public outrage at the exploitation of children by a trusted adult. None, however, prompted a call to ban heterosexual teachers from the classroom.

Why, then, has the sexual abuse scandal roiling the Catholic Church turned into a referendum on homosexual priests in the pulpit? ''People with these inclinations just cannot be ordained,'' the papal spokesman, Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, proclaimed last month.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/114/metro/For_church_a_false_issue+.shtml

Law is alone, apologetic as meeting starts - Boston Globe
ROME - Here, where he was elevated to cardinal in 1985 and anointed a rising star of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, Cardinal Bernard F. Law of Boston lowered his glance and sought forgiveness this week from his fellow cardinals.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/114/nation/Law_is_alone_apologetic_as_meeting_starts+.shtml

Catholics feel pain, disagree on how to cure it - Boston Globe
ST. LOUIS - Peter Hodgson, 42, loves the Roman Catholic Church and will never turn his back on it, but thinks there have to be institutional changes to deal with the sex abuse scandals involving priests. That is why the businessman visiting this Midwestern city from Washington, D.C., yesterday was so encouraged to hear Pope John Paul II say there is no place in the priesthood for anyone who harms children.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/114/nation/Catholics_feel_pain_disagree_on_how_to_cure_it+.shtml

'The church will help society to understand and deal with the crisis'
Text of speech by Pope John Paul II to US cardinals:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/114/nation/_The_church_will_help_society_to_understand_and_deal_with_the_crisis_+.shtml

Actions of Reardon supervisor at issue - Boston Globe
The supervisor of Christopher Reardon, a youth worker in a Middleton Catholic church who was convicted of sexually abusing dozens of boys, met with a Boston Archdiocese official months before Reardon's arrest to discuss concerns about his behavior, a lawyer for Reardon's victims told a judge yesterday.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/114/metro/Actions_of_Reardon_supervisor_at_issue+.shtml

Praise, criticism of pope's position - Boston Globe
Pope John Paul II's statement yesterday condemning sexual abuse by priests received mixed reaction from victims and their advocates and high praise from local clergy.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/114/metro/Praise_criticism_of_pope_s_position+.shtml

Cardinal took car to N.J., flew to Rome - Boston Globe
Although much of Cardinal Bernard F. Law's previous trip to the Vatican last week remains cloaked in mystery, one portion of it is now known - how he got back and forth to Rome without anyone in Boston knowing that he had left.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/114/metro/Cardinal_took_car_to_N_J_flew_to_Rome+.shtml

Public outcry is justified- Law must go - Boston Globe Opinion
POPE JOHN PAUL II will wrap up his summit with American cardinals today on the priest sexual abuse scandals. That the pope has called for this meeting is a sure sign that he has recognized the dire straits in which the American Catholic Church leadership is, even if some members of that leadership do not.

One leader who does not seem to recognize his own predicament is Boston's Cardinal Bernard F. Law. Law has come under fire for his handling of sexual abuse cases for weeks. The impetus for much of this criticism was his handling of the case of John Geoghan. Recently, however, more troubling facts have come to light.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/114/oped/Public_outcry_is_justified_Law_must_go+.shtml

Top U.S. Clergy Pin Church Woes on Gay Priests - New York Daily News
Top American clergy fretted yesterday that too many gays were becoming priests and their presence - particularly in seminaries - was hurting recruiting.

Linda Pieczynski, a board member of Call to Action, fumed. "I'm sorry, but this ... scapegoating is evil," she said. "How weak is their calling if they get the willies about being around gay men?"
http://www.nydailynews.com/2002-04-24/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-148665.asp

Triangle Catholics pray for openness in their church - Raleigh News & Observer
Raleigh -- A group of Roman Catholics from across the Triangle talked passionately Tuesday about the church they love and the changes they want as a result of the sexual abuse scandal roiling the church. With tears in their eyes, they suggested the most important outcome might be persuading church leaders to be more open and accountable to the people. Meeting at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Raleigh, about 20 gathered Tuesday evening to pray for the church and the U.S. cardinals meeting

Solano suit claims abuse 21 years ago - Sacramento Bee
Inmate says priest molested him as boy

Adding to the growing number of legal complaints against the Roman Catholic Church, a former altar boy now serving time in prison filed suit yesterday against a Benicia church and a priest he says molested him 21 years ago.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/04/24/MN208282.DTL

Church will change, but slowly - USA Today Opinion
Catholics who expected significant change to come out of the meeting between U.S. cardinals and Pope John Paul II in Rome were certain to be seriously disappointed by the tepid announcements made as it ended Wednesday. A two-day meeting at the Vatican could barely touch the much deeper concerns of a growing number of Catholics.

Still, despite appearances to the contrary, this week marks an important turning point for the church - a major step toward change, though it may take longer than many would prefer.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/comment/2002/04/25/ncguest1.htm

Low marks for PR nightmare - Australian Broadcasting Corp.
New York spin doctors, from the world centre of public relations, advertising and marketing, have given the Catholic Church low marks for its handling of the sex abuse crisis and are not shy about pitching plans on how to restore the image of the clergy.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/indepth/featureitems/s539397.htm

U.S. bishops get green light for harsher measures against sex abusers - Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The U.S.-Vatican summit on sex abuse gave a green light to bishops seeking harsher and more uniform measures against clerical sex abusers, including a new mechanism for removing offenders from the priesthood.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/20020425.htm

The church and the media - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial
If Roman Catholic Archbishop Rembert Weakland thinks that the secular press has not presented a "clear and accurate picture" of the Milwaukee diocese's response to sexual abuse cases, as his spokesman said, the archbishop should seriously consider opening to the press his meeting with diocesan priests today - or at the very least, fully briefing reporters after the fact. If Weakland thinks the reporting has been incomplete, then it would be in the diocese's interest to provide all the information it has available so that the media can deliver a fuller picture.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/apr02/37472.asp

McCann says calls from victims are flooding his office- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
District Attorney E. Michael McCann said Tuesday that his office has been swamped with calls from victims of sexual abuse by priests and that in a few cases he is examining whether charges can be brought.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/apr02/37591.asp

Activist blasts anti-gay stance - Philadelphia Daily News
Ever since Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls blamed the Catholic clergy's sexual abuse scandal on gay priests, instead of on the hierarchy's cover-up of criminal behavior, Mary Louise Cervone, a fervent Catholic and a lesbian, has despaired.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/3126808.htm

APRIL 23
Staking Their Claim - Los Angeles Times
With sex scandals rocking the Catholic Church, parishioners unite to fight for reforms.

In Chicago, Dan Daley is co-director of Call to Action, a group founded in the late-1970s that is the largest Catholic Church reform group in the U.S. It counts 25,000 members nationwide, including lay Catholics, nuns and priests and is monitoring lay-led movements such as the one in Wellesley. "Parishes around the country are holding meetings where people can talk, hear from the staff, sort out their feelings," says Daley. "Slowly they're becoming more conscious of the underlying issues. Particular parishes are going through the process, but each one is quite aware that others are doing the same thing. Call to Action is set up to connect these people. We're gearing up for it. We've started to get requests."
http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-042302catholic.story

Law's future on minds at summit - Boston Globe
Resignation talk spurs media flurry

VATICAN CITY - The American Catholic leadership gathered here for an unprecedented summit starting today on the priest sexual abuse scandals that have shaken the church's hierarchy, with the spotlight glaring on Cardinal Bernard F. Law and pressure growing on him to resign as head of the Boston Archdiocese.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/113/nation/Law_s_future_on_minds_at_summit+.shtml

Shifting the blame - Boston Globe
THE SEARCH for scapegoats is turning up the usual suspects: the media, liberals, feminists, and even the '60s.

With the clergy sexual abuse scandal now playing out before Pope John Paul II, some American Catholic leaders are eager to blame anyone but themselves for the problem. How pathetic. It leaves these men of God sounding like schoolboys caught red-handed by their principal. Like children, they follow the first rule of the playground: deny, deny, deny.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/113/oped/Shifting_the_blame+.shtml

CONTROL VS. CONTAINMENT - Boston Globe
Discordant cultures to meet in the Apostolic Palace

VATICAN CITY - In the Apostolic Palace in a room called the Sala Bologna under an 18th century tapestry of the Last Supper, the American leaders of the Catholic Church will take their places today at leather, high-backed chairs around an oak table for a historic gathering in the Holy See.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/113/nation/Discordant_cultures_to_meet_in_the_Apostolic_Palace+.shtml

FAITH-BASED AND COMMUNITY INITIATIVES - Boston Globe
Bush adviser optimistic that scandal can be overcome

WASHINGTON - Jim Towey, President Bush's adviser on faith-based issues, said yesterday that the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church can weather the current crisis by continuing to acknowledge the gravity of sexual abuse by priests, show sorrow for causing families grief, and take steps to prevent it from happening again.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/113/nation/Bush_adviser_optimistic_that_scandal_can_be_overcome+.shtml

Mattapan pastor calls for cardinal to resign - Boston Globe
In a continuing erosion of support for Cardinal Bernard Law, the Rev. William Joy, a respected community leader and pastor of St. Angela's in Mattapan, has publicly called on the embattled prelate to resign, saying Law finds himself in an ''untenable position'' and only his departure can bring ''healing and a new vision.''
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/113/metro/Mattapan_pastor_calls_for_cardinal_to_resign+.shtml

Parent alleges deterring by pastor - Boston Globe
The pastor at St. Monica's Church in Methuen rebuffed a father's intent to inform police that the Rev. Ronald H. Paquin had attempted to molest his son five years before Paquin was involved in a fatal accident in which another teenager, whom he had allegedly abused, was killed.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/113/metro/Parent_alleges_deterring_by_pastor+.shtml

Clerics' effort to oust Law historic: Hierarchy has rarely turned on its own - Boston Herald

Catholic Church historians yesterday were stunned by a report an American cardinal and bishop are leading the charge in Rome to oust Boston's besieged Bernard Cardinal Law for mishandling cleric sexual abuse cases.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/hist04232002.htm

Lay group eyes fund to avoid paying for legal costs - Boston Herald
Leaders of a burgeoning Bay State Catholic reform movement, sparked by the clergy sex abuse scandal, last night proposed an endowment or non-profit fund for angry parishioners who plan to boycott Bernard Cardinal Law's annual fund-raising drive.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/mone04232002.htm

Doubt Tempers Catholics' Hopes - New York Times
Around the country, Roman Catholics expressed a measured hopefulness about this week's trip by American cardinals to the Vatican.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/national/23VOIC.html?tntemail0

Cardinal Law Seen as an Issue in Rome - New York Times
American cardinals will meet with Vatican officials today and Wednesday to discuss sexual abuse by priests and the future of Cardinal Bernard F. Law.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/national/23VATI.html?tntemail0

A Delicate Week for the Church - New York Times Letter
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/opinion/L23CHUR.html?tntemail0

Monsignor Explains Remarks on Gay Priests - New York Times
One of Cardinal Edward M. Egan's closest lieutenants denied on Monday that he had attempted to blame the sex scandal roiling the Roman Catholic Church on gay priests.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/nyregion/23PRIE.html?tntemail0

When Silence Can Seem Like Consent - New York Times
What the archbishop of New York says " or does not say " is as important to non-Catholics as it is to Catholics.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/nyregion/23NYC.html?tntemail0

Pastor Tells Church That Ex-Choirmaster Was Accused of Abuse - New York Times
The pastor of a Presbyterian church in Michigan has told his parishioners that a choirmaster who resigned from a Princeton, N.J., boarding school 34 years ago over sexual abuse allegations had later been accused of mole sting a choirboy at the church and was forced to leave.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/nyregion/23CHOI.html?tntemail0

U.S. Laws Pose Risk of Steep Penalties - New York Times
The sex abuse crisis facing the Roman Catholic Church has one distinctly American aspect: it is shadowed by the threat of huge damage awards in lawsuits.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/national/23LEGA.html?tntemail0

In Dealing With Abusive Priests, Bishops Stood Along Wide Spectrum - New York Times
Roman Catholic leaders have responded to the sex abuse crisis in the church in a broad range of ways.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/national/23BISH.html?tntemail0

Groups try to exploit scandal - USA Today Opinion
For the past few decades, so-called progressive Catholics have been itching for large-scale reform in the Catholic Church. What they object to most of all is the church's teachings on sexuality. Representative of the fringe, they are now seizing the moment to install their agenda. The good news is they are not likely to prevail.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20020423/cm_usatoday/4050139

Cardinals arrive in Rome, but problems persist at home - USA Today Opinion
Anyone who hoped meetings starting today between the pope and nine visiting U.S. cardinals would alter church doctrine on celibacy or allow women to serve as priests is sure to be disappointed by the two-day discussions. Even before the cardinals arrived at the Vatican (news - web sites), the pope signaled that neither issue would be open to debate as top Catholic leaders attempt to map out a response to the sex-abuse crisis roiling the church.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=679&ncid=679&e=1&u=/usatoday/20020423/cm_usatoday/4050632

Sex scandals rock trust in all religions' leaders - USA Today Opinion
Martin Nussbaum, a Colorado Springs attorney who specializes in representing religious institutions, is concerned that the daily reports of sexual-abuse accusations ''will have a chilling effect'' on how clergy members serve parishioners in the future. Well, the future has already arrived. Clergy members are doing all they can to avoid any situation that might be construed as improper.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=679&ncid=679&e=4&u=/usatoday/20020423/cm_usatoday/4050087

Alan Keyes is Making Sense - MSNBC
 Well, we're going to be talking this in the course of the next half-hour. On the "Heart of the Matter," we're going to be looking into the heart of the church crisis on whether the American cardinals are going to get it right and get back to a right moral understanding of human sexuality and apply that understanding in accordance with the church's teaching to all their actions and judgments.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/723461.asp

Nevada priest allegedly abused youths - AP
LAS VEGAS - A Roman Catholic priest was charged yesterday with lewdly touching and photographing teenage boys he was counseling at his parish in suburban Henderson.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/113/nation/Nevada_priest_allegedly_abused_youths+.shtml

APRIL 22
Law offers steps against abuse - Boston Globe
Outlines changes for diocese, vows to consult pontiff

Calling the clergy sexual abuse crisis ''a wake-up call for the church,'' Cardinal Bernard F. Law yesterday departed for Rome vowing to tell Pope John Paul II how seriously the issue is roiling Catholicism.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/112/metro/Law_offers_steps_against_abuse+.shtml

'This is a wake-up call for the Church' - Boston Globe
Text of cardinal's speech. As I prepare to leave for a meeting in Rome with other Cardinals from the United States, the leadership of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and officials of the Holy See on the subject of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy, I would like to share with you the message I will be carrying to the Holy Father and to other participants.
http://search.boston.com/globe.vts?Action=FilterSearch&Filter=%2fsearchforms%2ftemplates%2ffilter_globe_request.hts&ResultTemplate=%2fsearchforms%2ftemplates%2fview_globe_results.hts&queryMode=Simple&SortField=wire_header&collection=globehtmltoday&QueryText=Vatican

Money concerns said not utmost - Boston Globe
VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II was carried to the altar on a gilded throne to celebrate Mass yesterday, and permeating the grandeur of St. Peter's Basilica was the distinct Vatican air of wealth and power.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/112/nation/Money_concerns_said_not_utmost+.shtml

Power to the laity - Boston Globe Editorial
IN ADVANCE OF the deliberations at the Vatican this week on the sexual abuse of children, American prelates are signaling that they will be discussing matters that go far beyond the immediate issue. That is all to the good, but the American cardinals and Vatican officials should also remember lay Catholics and consider their views on long-term church reforms, including the removal of sexual abusers from the priesthood and protecting youngsters from future assaults.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/112/editorials/Power_to_the_laity+.shtml

Pope must take action - Boston Globe
To his credit, Pope John Paul II will address the sexual abuse scandal in the church when he meets with American archbishops beginning tomorrow.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/112/metro/Pope_must_take_action+.shtml

The danger of false accusations - Boston Globe
SEXUAL ABUSE of children by clergy is hardly a new discovery: the case of the Rev. James R. Porter, the Fall River priest who reportedly molested more than 100 altar boys, made headlines a decade ago. But today, charges of abuse and cover-ups in the Catholic Church are the focus of unprecedented national attention. The horror of sex crimes against children is compounded by a shocking betrayal of trust. It seems clear that many church officials were more concerned with avoiding scandal than with protecting the most vulnerable of their parishioners. Yet as a long-overdue spotlight is turned on these outrages, it is important to remember that almost every story has another side - in this case, the danger of false accusations.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/112/oped/The_danger_of_false_accusations+.shtml

Law's supporters counter protests outside cathedral - Boston Globe
Since the sexual abuse crisis began rocking the Roman Catholic church, protesters have become a fixture at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, as much a part of the grand church on Sundays as its prominent stained-glass windows.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/112/metro/Law_s_supporters_counter_protests_outside_cathedral+.shtml

Cardinal lists subjects for discussion this week - Boston Herald
Stating that he recognizes the ``perceptions that (the Vatican meeting) is simply a gathering of aged, conservative cardinals,'' Bernard Cardinal Law vowed to discuss sweeping reforms.
Among points Law proposes are:...
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/list04222002.htm

Should Catholic priests marry? Scandal stirs debate on traditional church policy - Philadelphia Daily News
"Because of the terrible priest shortage, we are going to be deprived of the sacraments and the Eucharist," unless things change, said Sister Christine Schenk, executive director of FutureChurch, a national coalition of parish-based Catholics working for full participation by all in the life of the church.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/3113739.htm

St. Pat Msgr. Hits Gays On Scandal - New York Daily News
Blames woes on 'disorder,' U.S. immorality

Edward Cardinal Egan's stand-in at St. Patrick's Cathedral pointedly blamed the priest sex abuse scandal yesterday on homosexuality, a "sex-saturated" society and a constant assault on celibacy by liberals.
http://www.nydailynews.com/today/News_and_Views/City_Beat/a-148459.asp

A Meeting of the Minds - Newseek
John Paul II calls the U.S. cardinals to Rome. Let the damage control begin

April 29 issue -  His office said he was in seclusion, spending his time in prayer. But somehow Boston's embattled cardinal, Bernard Law, managed to slip past the American paparazzi stationed outside his mansion, board a plane unnoticed and make it to a haven inside Vatican City.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/741598.asp

A matter of Law in Rome - USA TODAY
ROME - Two leading U.S. Catholic bishops said Monday that they're "not in the group" of church leaders reportedly calling for embattled Cardinal Bernard Law to resign for grievous mistakes in covering up a pedophilia scandal in the priesthood. But on the eve of a top-level crisis meeting at the Vatican, the two officials, Washington, D.C., Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, stopped short of denying the existence of a faction that would like Law to step down.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/23/law.htm

Sex-abuse summit raises hopes for change in church - USA Today
Change is in the wind for the massive, mysterious Roman Catholic Church. Some pray for a cleansing zephyr - to expose and sweep away a dirty sex abuse scandal that has paralyzed the church in America, tarnishing its reputation and wounding its faithful. Others want a gale that blows the doors off - to redefine the priesthood and renew church doctrine. With these currents swirling at their backs, America's top Catholic clerics will huddle with the Vatican's senior enforcers of church doctrine Tuesday and Wednesday. Echoing in their ears will be Pope John Paul II's call Sunday to the world's priests to be "perfect."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/22/catholic.htm#more

Catholics agree 'now is the time to talk' - USA Today
Linda Pieczynski, lawyer and president of Call To Action. "Of course John Paul II calls pedophilia a sin. Who doesn't? But that's not going far enough," says Pieczynski, whose national organization pushes for women and married men in the priesthood and more decision-making roles for laity.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/22/catholic-voices.htm

Pope: Priests must 'be perfect' - USA TODAY
ROME - Two days before a crisis meeting with U.S. Catholic leaders on the sexual abuse scandal rocking the church, Pope John Paul II made clear his vision of the priesthood: perfect, holy and celibate. As 12 U.S. cardinals began arriving here Sunday for the unprecedented meeting, the 81-year-old pope told 20 new priests at an ordination ceremony that Jesus "asks of you to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. In a word, the Lord wants you to be holy." The day before, he reiterated the demand for celibacy in a meeting with bishops from Nigeria, where priests have been accused of raping nuns.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002/04/22/pope.htm

Bishops want authority to deal with pedophile priests - USA TODAY
U.S. Catholic leadership, preparing for next week's crisis meeting at the Vatican on the sexual abuse scandal rocking the church, say their goal is narrow and specific: They want the authority to enforce nationwide procedures for reporting, reassigning or removing pedophile priests. Instead of a powwow with the pope, this will be a working meeting on church governance, cardinals and bishops are saying.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/18/priests.htm

Besieged Cardinal Discusses 'Anger and Broken Trust' - New York Times
BOSTON, April 21 - In his first public appearance in two weeks, Boston's archbishop, Cardinal Bernard F. Law, gave his most direct speech to date about the sex abuse scandal crippling the church, acknowledging that many people feel "anger and broken trust" toward him and drawing parallels between the church crisis and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/22/national/22BOST.html

Vatican's Influence Is in Vision, Not Details - New York Times
ROME, April 21 - The widely held American view of the Vatican - as the headquarters of Catholicism Inc., employing a vast army of doctrinal foot soldiers who monitor every word of Father Joe's Sunday homilies in the service of a
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/22/national/22VATI.html

Bishop Names Five Accused of Misconduct - AP
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. April 21 - Calling for a new beginning in the Bridgeport Diocese, Bishop William E. Lori went public today with the names of five priests removed from the ministry after they were accused of sexual misconduct that occurred decades ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/22/nyregion/22BRID.html

John Paul II and His Cardinals - New York Times Opinion
When an institution has a 2,000-year history, very little it does is unprecedented. Yet this week's summit meeting of the American cardinals, the pope and senior Vatican officials comes close. American cardinals have been called to Rome before, but never on such short notice, and never with so much at stake: not just the credibility of the American church, but to some extent the legacy of Pope John Paul II.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/22/opinion/22ALLE.html

Irish Clergy Confront Sex Abuse - AP
DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) -- The leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, already committed to establishing an internal probe into their mishandling of sexual abuse by priests, debated Monday who should lead the investigation and what its goals should be.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020422/ap_on_re_eu/ireland_sexual_abuse_11

Diocese Responds to Anti - Gay Sermon - AP
NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Archdiocese distanced itself Monday from a high-ranking official's sermon that blamed the Catholic Church's child-molestation scandal on gay priests and widespread American immorality.

Monsignor Eugene Clark, who was filling in on Sunday for Cardinal Edward Egan at the pulpit of St. Patrick's Cathedral, gave the sermon without consulting Egan, according to both Clark and the archdiocese.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020422/ap_wo_en_ge/us_church_abuse_new_york_1

Catholic Officials Discuss Scandals - AP
Meghan Smith and other young Roman Catholics sat quietly at first as their youth minister brought up the many sex abuse allegations lodged against priests. She'd never heard it talked about so openly, not even in her own family. But soon the youth group and the lay minister were in full discussion.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020422/ap_on_re_us/church_abuse_youth_1

Germany's Catholic bishops launch Church sets commission to work on sexual abuse scandals, insists recent cases not "tip of the iceberg" - AP
WUERZBURG, Germany - Germany's Roman Catholic bishops agreed Monday to study the need for new guidelines on handling clergy sex abuse of minors after a spate of scandals in several countries, but insisted that several cases discovered in Germany do not indicate a widespread problem.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020422/ap_wo_en_ge/germany_church_abuse_4

Priest Barred By Greensburg Diocese - WTAE
The Catholic Diocese of Greensburg on Monday said that a 54-year-old priest has been barred permanently, reported WTAE's Marcie Cipriani.

The unidentified priest was reportedly a 20-year veteran who was ordained in Greensburg and had spent several years in the area. Most recently, he working with the military.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/wtae/20020422/lo/1170362_1.html

What Vatican sex-abuse summit may achieve - Christian Science Monitor
Management of the scandal ­ including a new policy for handling charges against priests ­ tops the agenda.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0422/p03s01-ussc.html

Archbishop opposes Pope's defence of celibacy - The Times (UK)
ONE of the most senior members of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland said yesterday that he was in favour of ending the celibacy of priests, a view opposed by the Pope.

Pope John Paul II told bishops in Nigeria over the weekend that priests must continue to live celibate lives. However, the Most Rev Keith O'Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, said yesterday: "I have no problems with celibacy withering away.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-275308,00.html

Bishops meet again today on sex abuse crisis - Irish Times
Ireland's Catholic bishops meet at St Patrick's College Maynooth again today to discuss their response to the clerical child sex abuse crisis. It is expected they will further the process of setting up an independent audit of how each diocese has dealt with complaints of clerical child sex abuse over recent decades, and establish how they might extend the powers of their Child Protection Office, which is based at Maynooth.
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2002/0422/1919237993HMBISHOPS.html

Sex cases 'may lead to drop in church members' - Irish Times
A senior Catholic bishop has said there could be a significant drop in Catholic Church members unless it is clear to people that the church really wants to face the truth about its handling of sex abuse cases.
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2002/0422/2298974234HMBISHOPWALSH.html

Ex-police official: Sex claims against clerics were dropped - Philadelphia Inquirer
"Unofficial policy" was to let religious superiors handle the cases, the former head of the city's sex-crimes unit said.

For about 15 years, Philadelphia police sex-crimes investigators followed an informal policy of not pursuing investigations of Catholic priests and clerics from other religions, a former high-ranking Philadelphia police official says.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/3114159.htm

Catholic meetings examine scandals - Baltimore Sn
Sex abuse, priesthood subjects of open sessions at Baltimore churches; Taped Keeler appeal heard

Baltimore-area Roman Catholic church leaders held a pair of "town meetings" with parishioners yesterday to discuss the crisis surrounding the national scandal of pedophilia in the priesthood, while Cardinal William H. Keeler flew to Rome for an emergency summit at the Vatican.
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.church22apr22.story?coll=bal%2Dlocal%2Dheadlines

Abuses distress archdiocese's ex-leader - Detroit Free Press
VATICAN CITY -- Years after he was forced to discipline priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors, former Detroit Cardinal Edmund Szoka said he is ashamed and embarrassed by the revelations rocking the Catholic Church.
http://www.freep.com/news/religion/szoka22_20020422.htm

Two State Priests Lose Their Jobs; One Quits - Hartford Courant
BRIDGEPORT -- Two priests have been ousted from their parish jobs and a third has resigned from a Catholic university after admissions of sexual misconduct, the Diocese of Bridgeport announced Sunday.
http://www.ctnow.com/news/nationworld/hc-reviewboard0422.artapr22.story?coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Dhome

Detroit cardinal to focus on laws - Detroit Free Press
Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida is to arrive in Rome today to prepare for two days of arduous meetings with fellow U.S. cardinals, Vatican officials and Pope John Paul II on the sex-abuse crisis.

Before boarding his plane Sunday at Metro Airport, Maida, a lawyer, said his focus will be on reconciling civil and canon laws governing sexual misconduct, and not on the buzzed-about issue of priestly celibacy.
http://www.freep.com/news/religion/maida22_20020422.htm

Area priests feel repercussions of church's sex abuse scandal - The Kansas City Star
For months, the Roman Catholic Church has been battling an onslaught of sex abuse accusations against priests. From Boston to St. Louis to Los Angeles, the allegations keep spilling into the public arena
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/3111779.htm

The Thin Line Between Love and Lust - Time magazine
Men who serve boys and men who abuse them have some things in common
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101020429-232596,00.html

The Vatican wakes up - San Francisco Chronicle
WHAT A difference a week makes. After virtually ignoring sexual abuse among American clergy, the Vatican will host a hurry-up meeting that may take on lightning-rod topics such as homosexuality, women and celibacy.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/04/22/ED222162.DTL

Vatican pays heed - Denver Post Editorial
The fact that Pope John Paul II has summoned American cardinals to Rome this week shows that, at last, the Vatican has recognized the gravity of sexual predations by Roman Catholic priests in the United States.
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E417%257E539472%257E,00.html

Brave priest the bishops silenced on sex abuse - Irish Times Opinion
The Catholic Church was warned about the clerical sex abuse time bomb in its midst - by one of its own. As the bishops meet to discuss the situation, Patsy McGarry recalls their treatment of Father Kevin Hegarty.
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/opinion/2002/0422/2487930908OP22PATSY.html

Church must look at celibacy and the ordination of women - Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial
After you say the necessary first things about the sexual scandals shaking the Catholic Church - that they are horrific and tragic and that reform must bring massive changes - after you say those important things, you are left with a residue of disquieting questions.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/3114185.htm

Florida Priest Resigns Over Sex Allegation - Reuters
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Reuters) - As U.S. Catholic cardinals gathered at the Vatican to discuss their response to a child sex abuse scandal, a Florida Catholic priest resigned from the priesthood amid allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor, a church official said.

In a letter read at services on Sunday, Bishop Robert Lynch of the Diocese of St. Petersburg said he had accepted the resignation of Father Robert Schaeufele as pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church of Hudson, near Tampa.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-crime-priest.html

Time to Act Against Pedophilia, U.S. Bishops Say - Reuters
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Declaring the time for apologies was over, U.S. Catholic leaders Monday said it was time for action and crisis meetings on child sex scandals were a chance to win back credibility.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-pope-pedophilia.html

Alleged Victims Picket Church - Los Angeles Times
Catholics: Emotional standoff in Azusa continues for hours as parishioners on their way to Mass react with anger. One is arrested and later released.
 
Carrying picket signs that read "House of Rape" and "Stop Crucifying the Children," a group of protesters marched outside a Roman Catholic church in Azusa on Sunday, prompting an emotional response from parishioners who yelled obscenities and blocked outsiders from entering the church.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-church22apr22.story

Key U.S. Clerics Plan to Push for Law's Removal - Los Angeles Times
ROME -- Several senior American cardinals will urge the Vatican today to ask Cardinal Bernard Law to resign as archbishop of Boston in the face of an escalating sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-042202law.story

Priest Forced to Quit Has Been Assisting Fraternities - Los Angeles Times
 A former Orange County priest whose alleged molestations of a teenage boy led the Roman Catholic Church to pay a $5.2-million settlement has been hosting gatherings of young men in his home as part of an unpaid job as an advisor to college fraternities.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000028682apr22.story

Meeting on Sex Scandals Likely Won't Bring a Quick Fix - Zenit
U.S. Cardinals Arrive in Rome with Cautious Hopes

U.S. cardinals expect a strong sign from John Paul II as they gathered in Rome for a meeting on sexual abuses committed by priests in their country. But some cardinals and observers caution that the two-day meeting won¥t likely produce quick solutions.
http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=19557

Should Catholic Church Change Position on Celibacy? - CNN Crossfire
LINDA PIECZYNSKI, CALL TO ACTION: That's where I think you're wrong, because this crisis is not about child sexual abuse alone. This crisis is about the secrecy and the cover-up that was done by the celibate bishops who created future -- more victims by not taking steps to remove these priests.

Therefore, when you talk about a solution to the crisis, child abuse exists in every profession. Nobody is blaming the priesthood as causing it or celibacy is causing it, but what we are saying is that we have to examine how this crisis came about, where well-meaning, supposedly holy men allowed children to be put at risk. And when you look at that you have to look at the clerical culture that allowed this type of thing to happen, and that -- in that respect, we need to look at who are priests, who are allowed to be priests, who are excluded from the priesthood.
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0204/22/cf.00.html

Text of article by Archbishop John Bathersby - Brisbane Courier-Mail (Australia)
Nevertheless the recent resignation of Catholic Bishops over sex scandals in America, England, Ireland, Germany, and elsewhere has certainly shaken the confidence of Priests and people alike, leaving us all wondering what on earth has gone wrong. A prominent Catholic lay man said to me recently: "Archbishop it will take the Catholic Church twenty years to recover from this scandal". I thought his timeframe optimistic. At the same time there is an enormous willingness today by Bishops, Priests, and Lay people to tackle the Church's challenges effectively, especially those of sexual misbehaviour. Unless that problem is faced openly Church attendance will continue to decline and Church witness will fail, despite the good work that the Church has done and continues to do in the midst of society at a religious and social level. The problems of the Church are not the problems of a few but the problems of all.
http://www.cathtelecom.com/news/204/424bat.html

Should Catholic priests marry? Scandal stirs debate on traditional church policy - Philadelphia Daily News
"Because of the terrible priest shortage, we are going to be deprived of the sacraments and the Eucharist," unless things change, said Sister Christine Schenk, executive director of FutureChurch, a national coalition of parish-based Catholics working for full participation by all in the life of the church.

"We don't need to close or cluster parishes. Instead we can open ordination to all who are called to it," Schenk said.

Joe Boyle, of the local chapter of Call to Action, another Catholic reform group, theorized as many as 75 percent of Catholics would support a married priesthood, "even kind of conservative Catholics."
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/3113739.htm

A Vision for the Catholic Church - Washington Post
The most important message the pope can give the American cardinals is this: Just as war is too important to be left to the generals, so is the Catholic Church too important to be left to the cardinals.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25887-2002Apr21.html

APRIL 21
Celibacy's sacrifice too big for some - Chicago Tribune
As scandal puts a Catholic Church rule in the spotlight, ex-priests say the pain of being alone led to their exit.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0204210348apr21.story

A Complete Loss Of Faith In Egan - Hartford Courant
Abuse Victim's Mother Tells Of Misplaced Trust

In many ways, Carole Surran was the ideal parishioner - a devout Catholic who attended Mass daily and allowed nothing to interfere with her faith or devotion to the church.

It was that devotion, in part, that led the Wilton mother to seek a meeting in August 1989 with Bridgeport's new bishop, Edward Egan, to discuss a problem she feared would harm her church: The recent assignment to a diocesan high school of a priest who had tried to molest her son seven years earlier
http://www.ctnow.com/news/specials/hc-surran0421.artapr21.story?coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Dhome

Sparked by abuse cases, German church leader urges Roman Catholics to confront pedophilia - AP
BERLIN - Germany's Roman Catholic church must openly confront cases of pedophilia among its priests and reassign sex offenders to positions where they have no contact with children, the leader of Germany's bishops said in remarks published Sunday.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020421/ap_wo_en_ge/germany_church_abuse_3

Scandalexicon - New York Times magazine
Every scandal has its own vocabulary. Today's column is not about scandal; it reports and judges only the vocabulary. In the current anger and agony roiling the Catholic Church, here are some of the words that should be used and pronounced with care:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/magazine/21ONLANUAGE.html

A Summons From the Pope - New York Times Editorial
Not a moment too soon, the Vatican has now moved aggressively to confront the widening sex abuse scandal that has caused the removal of dozens of priests in at least 17 dioceses across America since January, exposed the Catholic Church to crippling lawsuits and shaken the confidence of millions of parishioners. On Tuesday, American cardinals, responding to a direct order from Pope John Paul II, will convene at the Vatican to address the scandal. It is not clear whether the pope was driven to call the meeting mainly by charges that he had been indifferent to the crisis or by a dawning awareness of its severity. Whatever the reason, he is to be commended for seizing the initiative. Yesterday, speaking to a group of Nigerian bishops, the pope ordered that the church "diligently investigate accusations" of sexual misconduct.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/opinion/21SUN1.html

After the Scandal, a Grim Thought: Can It Be Fixed?- New York Times
A FRIEND of Pope John Paul II recently described him as an old man with the innocence of a child " someone who literally found it difficult to believe the accusations of pedophilia and sex abuse against his fellow priests.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/weekinreview/21HENN.html

Pedophilia Meetings Watershed for U.S. Church - Reuters
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - U.S. Roman Catholic cardinals began arriving in Rome Sunday for watershed meetings with the Vatican aimed at healing an American Church badly wounded by child sex abuse scandals involving priests.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-pope-pedophilia.html

Cardinals Address Sexual Abuse Scandal Before Trip to Vatican - AP
BOSTON (AP) -- The Vatican needs to understand that the clergy sexual abuse scandal in America is ``a very serious issue undermining the mission of the church,'' Cardinal Bernard Law told parishioners Sunday as he and the nation's other cardinals prepared for a rare meeting this week at the Vatican.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Church-Abuse-Cardinals.html

Europe Has Problems, But Not Like America's. Maybe. - New York Times
WHEN seminarians in Poznan told the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza late last year that the local archbishop regularly made homosexual advances toward them, the paper's editors did nothing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/weekinreview/21TAGL.html

NY Cardinal Egan Sorry About Scandal - AP
NEW YORK (AP) -- Roman Catholic Cardinal Edward Egan wrote in a letter to parishioners Saturday that he apologizes ``if, in hindsight,'' he made any mistakes in handling sex abuse allegations against priests.

Egan, who has been criticized for his handling of sexual abuse allegations against priests when he was bishop of Bridgeport, Conn., stopped short of saying directly that he had made mistakes.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Church-Abuse.html

On a Mission to Restore Credibility - New York Times
The American Roman Catholic cardinals who have been summoned to the Vatican this week for an extraordinary closed-door meeting on the sexual abuse crisis are men who have risen to the top not as innovators or entrepreneurs, but as loyalists, steadfast in devotion to their church and their pope, John Paul II.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/national/21CARD.html

U.S. Church Faces News Media on the Abuse Scandal - New York Times
Vatican officials are leaving it to the American church to put a public face on next week's meeting of United States cardinals. The United States bishops' conference is setting up public relations shop, while the Vatican is releasing little information.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/national/21MEDI.html

Many Critical of Hierarchy, but Few Say Faith Is Shaken - New York Times
A majority of American Catholics are highly critical of Pope John Paul II and the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy for the way they have handled accusations of sexual abuse by priests, according to a CBS News Poll released yesterday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/national/21POLL.html

Pope Says Bishops Must Act Firmly in Cases of Abuse - New York Times
Pope John Paul II extensively addressed sex scandals involving priests today, ordering bishops to "diligently investigate accusations" against those who break their vows of celibacy and chiding any who might see the priesthood as an easy life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/national/21POPE.html

Remembering Boyhood Torments at a New Jersey Parish - New York Times
MENDHAM, N.J., April 20 " Slowly, Mark V. Serrano rose before a group of childhood friends, former altar boys or old grade school buddies. All of them, like him, were now grown, and all of them, like him, were now coming to grips with the sexual abuse they suffered in boyhood at the hands of the same priest.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/nyregion/21ABUS.html

Once Bitten, Twice Shy - New York Times
THINK of trust as a natural resource, like water. It oils the machinery of human interaction in everything from marriage and friendship to business and international relations. There are reserves of trust, in a perpetual state of replenishment or depletion. And in this parched and suddenly sweltering spring, it is not just water supplies that are looking ominously low.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/weekinreview/21SCOT.html

Catholics ask: Will donations go for lawsuit? - Orlando Sentinel
As the collection plate passes at Sunday Mass, some Catholics in Central Florida are asking themselves a question: Could the money they're donating ultimately be used to settle a sex-abuse claim against a priest?
http://orlandosentinel.com/news/yahoo/orl-loccollect21042102apr21.story?coll=orl%2Dnewsaol%2Dheadlines

Pontiff reaffirms rules on celibacy - Boston Globe
As US cardinals gather for crisis session, pope rejects radical changes

ROME - Pope John Paul II delivered strong remarks yesterday affirming priestly celibacy and the responsibility of bishops to report scandalous violations, just three days before US cardinals meet here to address the widening crisis of clerical sexual abuse.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/111/nation/Pontiff_reaffirms_rules_on_celibacy+.shtml

Catholic parishes face closure in Nashua - Boston Globe
NASHUA - Three Roman Catholic parishes may close their doors within the next 14 months.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/111/metro/Catholic_parishes_face_closure_in_Nashua+.shtml

Taken lightly, abuse can kill - Boston Globe Opinion
Three young girls were not orphaned in Cambridge last week because their parents made a suicide pact. They are alone in the world because their father murdered their mother before fatally shooting himself. Scott Saunders made a choice; Desiree Saunders had none.
...
Better safe than sorry, the system said when the person in fear was an alleged miscreant priest. You are on your own, the system said, when the person in fear was a battered woman.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/111/metro/Taken_lightly_abuse_can_kill+.shtml

American church scandal no crisis to many in Rome - Boston Herald
ROME, Italy - While aides race to prepare the agenda for cardinals summoned here on short notice to discuss the sex abuse scandal rocking the U.S. church, many near the center of the Catholic world seem either unaware or unconcerned about the crisis.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/rome04212002.htm

Media a watchdog in crisis: Church leaders are now under close scrutiny - Boston Herald
After hearing that a Catholic priest was about to be charged with child molestation, an investigative reporter set out to learn what the church hierarchy knew about the clergyman's sexual misconduct and when it knew it.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/medi04212002.htm

Catholic Women Call for Radical Change Within- Womensenews
Some Catholic parishioners are seizing this moment to make the case for ordaining women, arguing that the time for a celibate all-male hierarchy has passed, and in fact, proved to be inadequate for protecting children.

"I think what this crisis points to is, we need to take back the church," says Christine Schenk, director of FutureChurch, a Cleveland-based coalition of 4,000 American Catholics who want to open the priesthood to women and married men and to provide educational materials offering theological support for diversity.

"Change in the church has always been from the bottom up," says Linda Pieczynski, a spokeswoman for Call To Action, which has lobbied for using more inclusive, less sexist language in prayer. Although some Catholic bishops supported changing prayers in response to the group's request, the Vatican denied those changes. Several conservative bishops do not permit Call To Action to meet on church property.
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/885/context/cover/

Meet the Press - NBC News
CARDINAL THEODORE McCARRICK: Well, it's hard to say, Tim. I hope that the expectations of the Catholic people in the United States are not too exaggerated, because it's only a two-day meeting and you're not going to be able to solve everything in a two-day meeting. I do hope three things and I think I mentioned this when we chatted the other day. It seems to me that listening to the Holy Father two weeks ago when-I happened to have lunch with him with a number of other cardinals and bishops, and we began to talk about this.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/741019.asp

Catholics look to leaders, wonder if true reform will come - MilwaukeeJournal Sentinel
As U.S. cardinals journey to Rome to meet with the pope on the sexual abuse crisis and new details have surfaced on how church officials here have handled wayward priests, some Milwaukee area Catholics wondered Sunday if their leaders were truly committed to reform.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/Metro/apr02/37154.asp

Priest accused by four serves at hospitals - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Brothers say pastor molested them as children; monitoring of his work as a chaplain is questioned

After being told that a priest had sexually molested four children in a large Catholic family, the Milwaukee Archdiocese assigned him to work for years as a hospital chaplain, despite an agreement that he would never be placed in a job where he had access to children.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/Metro/apr02/36976.asp

Scandal gnaws at church foundation - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Letters
The Roman Catholic Church should be forced to publicly identify clergy guilty of committing sexual crimes against children and young adults. Where the clergy members have served should also be revealed. Why?
http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/apr02/36810.asp

Keeping The Faith - Newsday Editorial
Vatican Meeting on Pedophilia Should Begin Healing Process

THE WORD cardinal comes from a Latin noun meaning hinge, and the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church are pivotal in the affairs of a 2,000-year-old institution with 1 billion members. This week at the Vatican, a small subset of those men in scarlet, the American cardinals, will meet with Pope John Paul II in a potential hinge moment for the church.
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-cubug2678745apr21.story?coll=ny%2Deditorials%2Dheadlines

PROTECT THE CHILDREN FROM ABUSIVE PRIESTS - Miami Herald
The Catholic Church seems poised to address the sexual-abuse scandal that has rocked its American parishes. Whether the Vatican's efforts will be enough to cleanse the church of pedophiles and satisfy U.S. Catholics and authorities is an open question.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/editorial/3099765.htm

APRIL 20
Catholic leaders hit News coverage: Stories on abuse called exaggerated - Boston Globe
As US cardinals prepare to gather at the Vatican to debate how to respond to the crisis caused by clergy sexual abuse, an increasing number of Catholic leaders are charging that the news media have exaggerated the scandal.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/110/metro/Catholic_leaders_hit_coverage+.shtml

National Catholic weekly urges Law to step down - Boston Globe
The National Catholic Reporter the progressive weekly that first brought the issue of clergy sexual abuse to public attention in 1985, yesterday became the first major Catholic newspaper to call on Cardinal Bernard F. Law to resign.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/110/metro/National_Catholic_weekly_urges_Law_to_step_down+.shtml

Protesters plan to keep heat on Law, archdiocese - Boston Herald
The Coalition of Concerned Catholics, an outspoken group representing scores of abuse victims and others, has already called for Law's resignation. It will hold a rally outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., as Law conducts a Mass celebrating couples married for 25 and for 50 years.

Voice of the Faithful, which has not called for Law to step down, and does not hold public rallies, plans to send a letter to Pope John Paul II next week, Muller said, asking that the pontiff hear from a delegation of local Catholics and abuse victims about the crisis. The VOTF Web site recently received a ``hit'' from the Vatican, he said.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/prot04202002.htm

Sex Scandal Gives Catholic Reformers a New Momentum - New York Times
Linda Pieczynski, a board member and former president of Call to Action, which has about 25,000 members and is the largest liberal Catholic group in the United States, acknowledges that there have been no major defections from the conservative to the liberal camp.

"I haven't seen anything like that," Ms. Pieczynski said. "There are still conservative traditionalists who chalk this scandal up to individual sin and the sins of a secular society, and they aren't changing their minds as far as I know."

Still, Ms. Pieczynski insists that the shocking cases of sexual abuse have greatly strengthened the liberals' position.

"Groups like ours are using this as an illustration of why we need to rethink many of our institutionalized positions," she said. "It makes it harder for theologians on the other side to marginalize us."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/20/arts/20CLER.html?ex=1020310182&ei=1&en=c7946eb8999e4fad

Bishops Replace Head of Sexual Abuse Panel and Name New Members
Bishop John B. McCormack of the Diocese of New Hampshire, who has been criticized for his handling of sexual misconduct cases when he served in the Boston Archdiocese, has been replaced as the chairman of the Roman Catholic church's highest committee devoted to issues of clerical sexual abuse in the United States, church authorities said yesterday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/20/national/20COMM.html

For 2 Decades, in 3 Countries, Priest Left a Trail of Sex Abuse
The Rev. Enrique Díaz Jiménez is a priest from Colombia who has ministered during the past 25 years in the best international tradition of the Roman Catholic Church.

Likable and hard-working, he has led popular charismatic services for Spanish-speaking immigrants in New York. He has taken needy children on spiritual retreats from the shantytowns and coastal villages of Venezuela. And he has served in working-class parishes of Bogotá.

But Father Díaz, 59, has also left an international trail of deceit and manipulation, betraying the trust of parishioners in three countries while sexually abusing dozens of boys over two decades, according to interviews and a review of criminal records and church documents in the United States, Venezuela and Colombia.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/20/nyregion/20PRIE.html

A Priest in the Camp of the Sexually Abused - Los Angeles Times
Former church insider, now a U.S. military chaplain, is hailed as an unsung hero by victims' advocates.

RAMSTEIN, Germany -- Hundreds of alleged victims of clergy sex abuse might never have come forward if not for a former Roman Catholic insider who is now a military chaplain at Ramstein Air Base.
Father Thomas Doyle was once a canon lawyer at the Vatican Embassy in Washington and on the fast track to becoming a bishop. But soon after the first major U.S. clergy scandal emerged in the 1980s, Doyle says he saw a conflict between trying to protect the church and the victims--and sided with the victims.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000028083apr20.story

Bishop Responds to Sex Abuse Scandal - Los Angeles Times
Tod D. Brown of Orange diocese says church will have to give laity more influence, among other reforms.

Fresh from a two-day meeting with 20 Roman Catholic leaders in Los Angeles, Tod D. Brown, bishop of Orange, said Friday it's clear that bishops and priests will have to yield some authority to church members as a result of the church's unfolding sex scandal.
"I think the Catholic Church in our country has been too clerical," said Brown, a member of the Vatican's Curia, an elite group of cardinals and bishops whose members perform duties in the pope's name and with his authority.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000028070apr20.story

Catholic Law Called Into Question - Washington Post
Code Is Too Lenient on Child Sex Abuse by Priests, Some Experts Say

Canon law is an obscure field, even for most Roman Catholics. Yet a look at this body of church rules helps explain how U.S. bishops have handled priests who prey on underage youths.

Experts on canon law generally agree that it treats sex between clergy and adult women as a more serious offense than the molesting of minors. It also emphasizes restoring wrongdoers to active priesthood over removing them from the clergy. And some canonists even complain that the system grants abusers more protection than their victims.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18742-2002Apr20.html

For Abusers, 'Just Penalties' - AP
Here is the text of Canon 1395, on clergy sexual misconduct, from the Roman Catholic Code of Canon Law, issued in 1983. The sixth commandment, in the Roman Catholic version of the Ten Commandments,

is "Thou shalt not commit adultery."

1. . . . A cleric living in concubinage, and a cleric who continues in some other external sin against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue which causes scandal, is to be punished with suspension. To this, other penalties can progressively be added if after a warning he persists in the offense, until eventually he can be dismissed from the clerical state.

2. A cleric who has offended in other ways against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, if the crime was committed by force, or by threats, or in public, or with a minor under the age of 16 years, is to be punished with just penalties, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state if the case so warrants.

Note: The U.S. bishops won Vatican permission to raise minors' age of consent to 18; last year the Vatican applied that worldwide.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18744-2002Apr20.html

Many faiths haunted by sex abuse, clergy say - Chicago Tribune
Acknowledging cases of sexual abuse among their own clergy, religious leaders from a Chicago interfaith organization said Friday that the problem is not isolated to the Roman Catholic Church.

Although the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago called Friday's meeting in response to the abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in America, members of the group said leaders of all faiths and denominations need to address the issue more aggressively.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/yahoo/chi-0204200176apr20.story?coll=chi%2Dnewsaol%2Dheadlines

Celibacy on the agenda for Vatican discussions - Detroit Free Press
Pope John Paul II long ago took discussion of priestly celibacy off the table, but some of his top leaders have put it back on the agenda, spurred by the Catholic Church's worldwide sex-abuse scandal.

Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony told journalists he plans to raise it during extraordinary meetings next week among a dozen U.S. cardinals, the pope and top Vatican officials.
http://www.freep.com/news/religion/priest20_20020420.htm

Order: Priest Didn't Commit Sex Abuse - Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - A St. Petersburg Catholic school principal has returned to work after his religious order concluded he was falsely accused of sexually abusing a student at a Tampa school two decades ago.
http://news.tbo.com/news/MGA720CY80D.html

Scandal Returns Legionaries Leader To Spotlight - Hartford Courant
Recognition of the global nature of priestly sexual abuse is focusing new attention on charges leveled against a powerful Mexican priest based in Rome.

The allegations focus on the actions of the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the 82-year-old leader of the Legionaries of Christ, which has 500 priests in 20 countries. Its U.S. headquarters is in Orange and it has a seminary in Cheshire.
http://ctnow.com/hc-maciel.artapr20.story?coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Dhome

A half-century later, a hidden story of abuse by a priest is told - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
His shameful past finally caught up with Edmund Haen.

I'd call him Father Haen because he was a Catholic priest in and around Milwaukee for 57 years, but someone deserving that title would not do what Haen did to John Maurice when John was a vulnerable member of his flock.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/Metro/apr02/36687.asp

Clergy say abuse should be reported - Chicago Sun-Times
Clergy should be required by law to report any case of suspected child sexual abuse, including allegations against priests and other clergy, a coalition of Chicago area religious leaders declared Friday, calling for a change in state law to add clergy to the list of professionals required in Illinois to notify civilian legal authorities any time they learn of possible abuse.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-abuse20.html

APRIL 19
Missouri Diocese to Close Seminary - AP
HANNIBAL, Mo. (AP) - Church officials said Friday they will close the seminary at the center of sexual abuse allegations against a former Roman Catholic bishop, blaming financial woes and poor enrollment that aren't expected to improve because of the scandal.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020419/ap_on_re_us/church_abuse_seminary_1

U.S. Bishops Want Vatican Guidance on Pedophilia - Reuters
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - U.S. Catholic leaders will seek Vatican guidance next week on whether pedophile priests can stay in the ministry or if a "one strike and you're out" rule should be applied firmly, an official said Friday.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020419/wl_nm/pope_pedophilia_dc_21

Archbishop assures Catholics of priests - Miama Herald
In a statement to be delivered at all Masses this weekend, Miami Archbishop John C. Favalora will tell South Florida Roman Catholics that he knows of no active priest in the archdiocese who has been credibly accused of sexual misconduct.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/3093784.htm

Vatican Makes Bishop Resign in Sex-During-Exorcism Case - New York Times
BERLIN, April 18 - The Vatican has made a Roman Catholic bishop resign more than 18 months after a female university professor accused him of sexual abuse while performing an exorcism.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/international/19BISH.html

Homosexuality in Priesthood Is Under Increasing Scrutiny - New York Times
With the Roman Catholic Church weathering one case after another of priests who sexually abused boys, the Catholic faithful are asking whether there is a closeted culture of homosexuality in the priesthood, and if so whether it is connected to the sexual abuse problem.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/national/19GAY.html

Vatican Meeting on Abuse Issue Is Set to Confront Thorny Topics - New York Times
ROME, April 18 - A top Vatican official said today that next week's meetings with American cardinals about the sexual abuse scandals in the church would cover controversial issues like celibacy, the screening of gay candidates for the priesthood and the role of women in the church
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/national/19VATI.html

Defrocked After '68 Sex Case, Priest Faces New Accusation - New York Times
A onetime Greek Orthodox priest who was convicted of sodomy in 1970 but later started his own church in Queens was arrested yesterday on charges of sexually abusing a 14-year-old congregant, law enforcement officials said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/nyregion/19GREE.html

Priest Ousted From L.I. Church Panel Defends Its Work - New York Times
One of the priests who was dismissed this week from the Long Island diocesan panel that investigated accusations of clerical sex abuse defends his performance but says the restructured panel might give victims and critics more confidence in the integrity of the process.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/nyregion/19PLAC.html

Catholics Discuss Priest Shortage - AP
MONTREAL (AP) -- Roman Catholics from the United States and Canada met Friday to find solutions to the shortage of priests and nuns amid the clergy sex abuse crisis that was both a distraction and major topic of discussion.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Church-Abuse-Vocations.html

Cardinals Look to Draft Abuse Rules - AP
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- American cardinals meeting next week over the sex abuse scandal are looking for guidance from the Vatican on a range of issues, including a proposed policy of ``one strike and you're out'' for priests implicated in sex abuse cases, a U.S. church official said Friday.

American churchmen who met with the pope last week ``gave him a sense of urgency,'' said Monsignor Francis Maniscalco, a spokesman for the U.S. bishops.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Vatican-Sex-Scandal.html

Clergy Abuse a Global Problem - AP
NEW YORK (AP) -- Canada, Australia, Ireland, Britain, France, Germany, Mexico, Poland.

It may be the American cardinals who are headed to the Vatican, but the Roman Catholic Church has faced clergy sex scandals around the globe -- with the most widespread problems in English-speaking countries.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Church-Abuse-International.html

Lay Catholics Lobby Cardinals - AP
BOSTON (AP) -- Groups of lay Roman Catholics are quietly lobbying church leaders in the days leading up to the Rome summit on clergy sex abuse, trying to influence U.S. cardinals as they meet with Vatican officials and the pop
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Church-Abuse-Lobbying.html

Mahony Takes His Message to Airwaves - Los Angeles Times
The cardinal, slow to react publicly to sex-abuse crisis, regains his media-savvy ways.
 
On a day when an alternative newspaper pictured him on its cover with a zipper locking his lips, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony settled in for a series of media interviews Thursday to get the word out that he is committed to taking direct action against sexual abuse.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000027909apr19.story

Not Even the Pope Can End the Sex Abuse Scandal - Los Angeles Times Opinion
 As Pope John Paul II assembles the American cardinals in Rome, cries are heard around the land for the Catholic Church to recover its credibility as a moral teacher in the wake of the sex abuse scandal.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-000027934apr19.story

Mahony Gives Abuse Panel More Muscle - Los Angeles Times
Number of laypeople will be raised to boost credibility. Cardinal will unveil new programs he wishes were in place earlier.
 
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony will announce today that he is expanding the scope and authority of a panel overseeing all sexual abuse allegations in the Los Angeles Archdiocese in an effort to add more credibility to the process.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-041802priests.story

San Juan archbishop discloses sex abuse complaint against priest - AP
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico's archbishop is investigating the first reported complaint of sex abuse by a Roman Catholic priest in this U.S. Caribbean territory - charges from an adult claiming abuse as a child.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020419/ap_wo_en_ge/carib_puerto_rico_church_abuse_1

Walk in the light - Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial
What the bishops should hear in Rome.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/3096172.htm

No Roman holiday - Cleveland Plain Dealer Editorial
This conclave must produce honest, forthright talk about a national crisis of confidence in the willingness of church leaders to protect young Catholics. And it should also mean a national solution for a national problem.
http://www.cleveland.com/editorials/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/opinion/10192088143333121.xml

Vatican gambles with high-profile role in scandal - Washington Post Opinion
Does the Vatican realize how high it has raised the stakes in the church's crisis over pedophilia? Now that Pope John Paul II has intervened, it will be held accountable for what happens next.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13200-2002Apr19.html

L.A. cardinal's role outrages abuse victims - San Francisco Chronicle
Abuse victims familiar with a Stockton pedophile case are outraged that Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles -- one of eight U.S. cardinals called to Rome next week over the sex scandal rocking the Catholic Church -- is entrusted with carrying out new policies to protect children from harm.

Testimony in the 1998 Stockton case, in which a jury awarded two brothers millions of dollars in damages, indicated that Mahony had knowingly allowed a pedophile priest to continue working and taken no action to keep him away from children.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/04/19/MN18747.DTL

Analysis: Vatican finally confronts abuse covered up by its cardinals - The Independent (UK)
The turmoil surrounding thousands of allegations of child abuse by priests has become too serious for the hierarchy to ignore
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=286602

Cardinal pens path of change - Detroit Free Press
As he prepares for a historic Vatican meeting on sex abuse by priests, Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida's message to the faithful at home promises an unprecedented level of openness and communication.
http://www.freep.com/news/metro/priest19_20020419.htm

Sex abuse began on vacation trip, plaintiff testifies - Philadelphia Inquirer
ATLANTIC CITY - Robert A. Young Jr. said he was 9 years old and on a family camping trip to Disney World when his priest first put a hand in his pants.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/3096186.htm

Diocese of Dallas defends priest's transfer - The Dallas Morning News
Officials of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas said this week they were stunned that parishioners of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church appeared to be "making a martyr" of their priest while vilifying the officials for taking a tough stance on child abuse.
http://www.dallasnews.com/religion/stories/041902dnmetdiocese.a69ad.html

Local priest responds to Catholic crisis - Los Angeles Times
Church's understanding of sexual abuse has evolved, and policies along with it, Holy Family's Shea says.
http://www.latimes.com/tcn/glendale/news/la-gn0024035apr19.story

Subpoenaed Archbishop Avoids Testifying - New York Times
Complaining of a lack of cooperation from Roman Catholic leaders, the Cincinnati prosecutor's office summoned Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk before a grand jury yesterday, but it put aside the subpoena an hour before his appearance when archdiocesan officials promised to deliver all relevant records about priests accused of sexual abuses, the Hamilton County prosecutor said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/national/19CINC.html

Barbarians in the Church - WorldNet Opinion
My mother must be in the Roman Catholic Hall of Fame. For seven decades, she has been a loyal member of the Church. We are talking daily Mass, the rosary, the whole deal. My mom is a true believer with a direct pipeline to God. If you need a favor, my mother is the one you should have praying for you.

So it is interesting to watch my mother following the priest scandal. Her group in the "Catholic Golden Age" club is generally appalled and confused. Their faith has not been shaken, but their confidence in the men running the church has been.
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27287

Bishops promise help over sex abuse cases -The Tablet
The Catholic bishops in Ireland have made a concerted effort to assure their congregations that the Church will not shirk its responsibilities to the victims of paedophile priests. In statements read at Masses on 14 April in dioceses across Ireland, bishops acknowledged the "pain and distress" caused by the child sex abuse scandals. Recently the Bishop of Ferns, Dr Brendan Comiskey, resigned following renewed criticism of his handling of the case of a paedophile priest, Fr Sean Fortune (The Tablet, 6 April).
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/citw.cgi?

Documents provoke fresh anger - National Catholic Reporter
A riveting two-and-a-half-hour televised news conference that included a guided tour through hundreds of pages of documentation dealing with priest sex abuse charges, may well be seen in the future as a defining event in the Boston clerical sex abuse scandal, one that sealed the fate of Cardinal Bernard Law, leader of the nation's fourth largest Catholic archdiocese.
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/041902/041902d.htm

'Defensive ministry' necessary, priest says - National Catholic Reporter
Fr. Robert Kus calls it "defensive ministry," a strategy he devised years ago that helps minimize the chances of false accusations of improper behavior between minister and parishioner or misperceptions about ministers' actions by clients.
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/041902/041902e.htm

Church office to monitor child protection - National Catholic Reporter
The Catholic church in England and Wales has appointed Eileen Shearer as head of the new Catholic Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults, according to British media reports. The single mother with a long career in children's services will advise the church in England and Wales on the prevention of child abuse and the protection of adults.
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/041902/041902f.htm

U.S. scandal sends warning worldwide - National Catholic Reporter
Since Feb. 12, the world has watched the trial of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic unfold at the Hague. For the first time, a head of state is being made to answer for crimes against humanity committed on his watch.

Without pressing the analogy with Milosevic too far, a similar point can be made today with regard to sexual abusers within the world's Catholic clergy, and the bishops who cover their tracks.
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/041902/041902p.htm

Suggestions for living through the crisis - National Catholic Reporter
We lay folks can only begin to imagine what it must mean to be a priest in recent weeks and to wake up day after day to read new headlines about ugly betrayals and awful violations of youngsters that have occurred in the church to which you have given your life. We can only begin to imagine what it must be like to have to get up on a Sunday to face the congregation knowing many of the members come to church after a fresh reading of the day's scandal.
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/041902/041902q.htm

Parishioners incredulous of abuse accusations - Daily Herald
The Rev. Anthony Ross transferred to Bloomingdale's St. Isidore Catholic Church in 1989. His mission: Help the parish heal after its priest had been accused of child molestation.

Those same parishioners were stunned this week when the Joliet Diocese announced it was investigating Ross on allegations he abused a teenage boy in 1983.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cdh/20020419/lo/parishioners_incredulous_of_abuse_accusations_1.html

Catholic Church must accept blame for this scandal - Talahasee Democrat Opinion
I'm not Catholic, but I have fond memories of the formative years I spent in a predominantly Catholic environment. I wouldn't pretend to be able to feel Catholics' pain amid the current scandal in the church. But I can't help but sympathize with those who feel as if they've all been smeared by the revelations of sexual abuse by a small minority of priests.
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/opinion/3092109.htm

Catholic Defeats Blamed on Scandals - AP
ALBANY, N.Y. - The Roman Catholic Church has been dealt recent setbacks in two statehouses that both friends and foes attribute to the church's preoccupation with the clergy sex abuse scandal.

Legislative chambers in Massachusetts and New York - states where the sex scandal is perhaps most intense - have approved bills requiring institutions affiliated with the church to cover prescription birth control in health insurance policies for many employees.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/nation/3096635.htm

Celibacy, screening on papal agenda - Chicago Tribune
ROME -- A leading Vatican official said Thursday that next week's meetings with American cardinals about the sex-abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church would cover such controversial issues as celibacy, the screening of gay candidates for the priesthood and the role of women in the church.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0204190302apr19.story

Catholic bishop says phone call led to priest's removal - AP
RALEIGH, N.C. - Since the Rev. James Behan arrived at Immaculate Conception Church in 1993, the number of families worshipping there has surged from 120 families to 10 times that number.

So it's hard for Poletti to come to terms with allegations that Behan sexually abused a teen-ager nearly 25 years ago. The Diocese of Raleigh placed him on administrative leave this week after speaking with Behan about the accusations.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/3094266.htm

Gay priests will be on Vatican agenda - PlanetOut
Preparing for high-level meetings about the sexual abuse crisis in the U.S. Catholic Church, a Vatican official said on Thursday that one of the discussion topics will be the screening of gay seminary candidates.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/po/20020420/co_po/gay_priests_will_be_on_vatican_agenda

N.O. Priest Suspended Amid Sex Allegations - WDSU
The recent flurry of abuse allegations against the Catholic Church reached New Orleans Friday after a local priest was suspended pending the outcome of a lawsuit alleging sexual molestation.

In the lawsuit filed Thursday, the Rev. Charles G. Coyle, who was based at the now-closed St. Cecilia Church in Bywater before being transferred to a post within the archdiocese, is accused of sexually molesting a teenage boy in Massachusetts in the 1970s.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/wdsu/20020419/lo/1168669_1.html

Dave Zweifel: Secrecy a catalyst for conning public - Capital Times Opinion
One of the sessions at last week's annual convention of the American Society of Newspaper Editors in Washington had the topical title "Crisis in the Catholic Church."
http://www.captimes.com/opinion/column/zweifel/24193.php

In Catholic crisis, there is hope - Philadelphia Inquirer

The wave of responses to the pedophilia crisis in the Roman Catholic Church focuses primarily on the priesthood. Scholars and laymen are asking what it is about the state of the clergy within Catholicism that has contributed to such a crisis.

Yet as a former youth counselor for the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services, I am wondering what it is about the Catholic system itself that may have aided such abuse.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/3096284.htm

The Pope Steps In - Wall Street Journal Opinion
Can he save the American church from the sex-abuse scandal?
http://opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=105001951

Church reacted slowly to abuse case - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Despite reports of sexual contact, Capuchin leaders kept priest in post at seminary for a decade

Years before Jude Hahn admitted that he abused young men, it was clear to some people at St. Lawrence Seminary that his was a textbook case of secrecy and denial.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/Metro/apr02/36630.asp

The Church's Sex Abuse Crisis - Commonweal
What's old, what's new, what's needed-and why

There are scandals and then there are scandals. Most are ugly, absorbing, and quickly forgotten. A few change history. The current flood of revelations about Catholic priests sexually preying on minors and the failure of Catholic officials to expose these outrages is taking on the dimensions of a history-changing scandal.
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/12002/april192002/41902ar.htm

Diocese of Peoria adds new sexual abuse policies - AP
PEORIA, Ill.- Catholic Diocese of Peoria clergy and lay employees must pass background checks and some will undergo psychological testing under new policies intended to prevent sexual abuse of children.

Newly installed Bishop Daniel Jenky, who announced the policies Friday, said recent reports of sexual abuse at the hands of church employees across the country have left the priesthood "shamed and tired." He said the new measures are intended to avoid problems in a diocese where there have been relatively few complaints.
http://www.myinky.com/ecp/home/article/0,1626,ECP_775_1098963,00.htmlCatholic

Conte starts extradition of Desilets from Canada - Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER-- District Attorney John J. Conte said last night he has begun extradition proceedings against the Rev. Paul Desilets, who was indicted last Friday by a Worcester County grand jury on charges of molesting boys when he served at a parish in Bellingham.
http://www.telegram.com/news/inside/desilets.html

APRIL 18
Law ordered to give deposition on Shanley - Boston Globe
Daylong session set for June 5; site to be named

Paving the way for a rare proceeding, a Superior Court judge yesterday ordered Cardinal Bernard F. Law to give sworn testimony about how he handled assignments of the Rev. Paul R. Shanley, who is accused of sexually molesting a Newton youth.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/108/metro/Law_ordered_to_give_deposition_on_Shanley+.shtml

Papers target priest linked to Reardon - Boston Globe
Attorneys for the Boston Archdiocese yesterday handed over documents related to the negligence lawsuit that alleges Father Jon C. Martin should have protected 24 boys who were sexually abused by Middleton youth worker Christopher Reardon.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/108/metro/Papers_target_priest_linked_to_Reardon+.shtml

Cardinal to say Mass on Sunday - Boston Globe
Cardinal Bernard F. Law continued to drape his future in mystery yesterday, although he announced through a spokeswoman that he had returned from a secret trip to Rome and will resume his customary place at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Sunday to say morning Mass.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/108/metro/Cardinal_to_say_Mass_on_Sunday+.shtml

Cardinals may face obstacles at summit - Boston Globe
The US cardinals who head to Rome to meet with the pope next week appear ready to go further than the American church has ever gone in tackling clergy sexual abuse, but their efforts are likely to face some resistance and are not expected to include any serious discussion of broad church reforms, Vatican observers say.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/108/metro/Cardinals_may_face_obstacles_at_summit+.shtml

Criminal priests and the Commandments - Boston Globe
I DON'T KNOW which is more sickening: the proliferating reports of rape and sexual depravity by Catholic priests, or the corruption of the cardinals and bishops who covered up for these abusers and made it easy for them to keep finding fresh victims.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/108/oped/Criminal_priests_and_the_Commandments+.shtml

Aides say Law will be set to lead upon return - Boston Herald
Bernard Cardinal Law plans to return from an extraordinary meeting in Rome next week to lead the Archdiocese of Boston indefinitely, aides said yesterday.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/card04182002.htm

Law bows out of Boston College graduation - Boston Herald
Bernard Cardinal Law, a fixture at Boston College's commencement ceremonies for years, yesterday informed officials at the Catholic college he would skip this year's graduation.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/grad04182002.htm

A call to the cardinals - Buffalo News
The danger of this scandal lies not so much in the incidents of sexual abuse attributed to some priests - a sorry enough catalog of human failings by a small number of clerics - but in the way the church hierarchy has covered up complaints. Catholics rightly are dismayed that concerns over the reputation of the church appear to have taken precedence over compassion for victims and a commitment to prevent future abuses.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20020418/1046727.asp

Once Cardinal's Top Aides, Bishops Now Share Shadow - New York Times
BOSTON, April 17 - It is a testament to the influence of Cardinal Bernard F. Law, the archbishop of Boston, that five of the men who worked as his trusted lieutenants have been appointed to lead dioceses around the country. Now as Cardinal Law fights to overcome the stain of a sprawling sexual abuse scandal, the intense spotlight focused on him is also casting shadows on several of those aides.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/18/national/18BISH.html

Boston Cardinal's Deposition Is Ordered in Case of an Accused Priest - New York Times
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 17 - Cardinal Bernard F. Law of Boston was ordered today
by a Massachusetts judge to give a deposition in a lawsuit involving his failure to remove a priest despite repeated accusations that the priest had abused boys.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/18/national/18PRIE.html

Bishops Divided Over Reassignment - AP
As American cardinals prepare for next week's unprecedented Vatican summit on clergy sex abuse, their fellow church leaders remain divided over whether to reassign some abusive priests. The nation's Roman Catholic bishops agree that pedophiles should be removed. And they're solidly against reassigning repeat offenders.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Church-Abuse-Bishops.html

Cardinals may face obstacles at summit - Boston Globe
The US cardinals who head to Rome to meet with the pope next week appear ready to go further than the American church has ever gone in tackling clergy sexual abuse, but their efforts are likely to face some resistance and are not expected to include any serious discussion of broad church reforms, Vatican observers say.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/108/metro/Cardinals_may_face_obstacles_at_summit+.shtml

Late and Lacking - Washington Post
The pope in Rome and the president of the United States are in the same boat. They are both coping with the consequences of a failure to recognize a crisis. For John Paul II, it was the pedophile scandal, which enraged the faithful in an unparallelled way. The Holy Father, who rightly expects a place in history as the liberator of Poland, was apparently preoccupied with cosmic diplomacy and missed the significance of crimes committed by a clergy that was protected, promoted and even pampered by the hierarchy. He made the mistake of thinking that Catholics care more about their church than their children. Now His Holiness has called 11 U.S. cardinals to an emergency session at St. Peter's.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5259-2002Apr17.html

Is Nothing Sacred? - MSNBC
The Mideast violence and the Catholic Church's crisis only seem unrelated

April 16 - When I was a child and used to watch old Westerns on television, there was a frequently repeated scenario: the bad guy would race into a church to hide, knowing that the men pursuing him would not violate that sacred space by coming in with guns blazing. It was a house of God, of worship, and there was a common understanding among everyone-bad guys and good guys alike-that the space between those walls was sacred. The church was, in a sense, removed from the outside world, from whatever conflicts existed "out there."
http://www.msnbc.com/news/739617.asp#BODY

We should consider prosecuting Catholic Church - Houston Chronicle Opinion
AS the sexual abuse scandal that has plagued the Catholic Church since early this year continues to unfold, and notwithstanding the prospect of an extraordinary meeting next week between Pope John Paul and U.S. cardinals to address the issue, there can be little doubt that a number of Catholic priests around the country soon will face criminal charges and possible jail time.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/outlook/1373199

Priest, accused in 1985, now helps assign clerics - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
No charges were filed; archdiocese said there'd be no contact with children

A priest who helps the Milwaukee Archdiocese decide assignments for other priests was accused of sexual misconduct with a teenage boy and of regularly supplying minors with alcohol, the Journal Sentinel has learned.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/Metro/apr02/36346.asp

Pressure on Boston cardinal builds - MSNBC
BOSTON, April 17 - Cardinal Bernard Law, whose handling of cases of accused priests in the Archdiocese of Boston has made him the public face of the Roman Catholic sexual abuse scandal, faced rising pressure to step down Wednesday after a poll showed that almost two-thirds of Boston Catholics wanted him to resign.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/732931.asp

APRIL 17
Catholic diocese triggers abuse inquiry in Palm Beach Gardens - Sun-Sentinel
Palm Beach Gardens police are investigating decades-old sexual abuse allegations referred to them this week by prosecutors who were contacted by officials with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach.

The Very Rev. James Murtagh immediately told the diocese's attorney to inform prosecutors of the allegations so they could be investigated, the diocese attorney said Wednesday.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-complaint041802.story?coll=sfla%2Dnews%2Dpalm

Catholic reform group sees crisis as opportunity - Buffalo News
Members of a church reform group agreed Tuesday night that with the Catholic Church in crisis over sexual abuse of children, the time may be ripe for the laity to begin exercising more control of their church.

But during a two-hour discussion at Daemen College in Amherst, members of Call-To-Action, an organization of liberal Catholics, and their supporters were unable to decide specifically how to begin working toward that goal.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20020417/1009160.asp

Law met secretly with Pope offered resignation in Rome, but was encouraged to stay put - Boston Globe
BOSTON -- Cardinal Bernard Law said Tuesday that he met with Pope John Paul II, raised the possibility of resigning, but came away determined to clean up the sexual abuse scandal in his archdiocese.
http://www.boston.com/news/daily/16/cardinal_law.htm

What the cardinals must do - Boston Globe Opinion
THE GREATEST EPIPHANY in literature occurs when Oedipus sees that he himself is the fugitive murderer of the king. Two days ago the American cardinals were summoned to Rome by Pope John Paul II, and what they must report is an equivalent epiphany: The power structure of the Catholic Church itself - these self-same cardinals, this pope - is guilty of a heinous crime. The only hope of a staggered American Catholic Church is that our leaders, having at last faced the truth, will report in Rome what the broad experience of the American Catholic people has been and what the people now demand.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/107/oped/What_the_cardinals_must_do+.shtml

Call to Rome not enough - Boston Globe Opinion
Pope John Paul II has invited the wrong people to Rome.
...It is not even clear whether the 81-year-old frail and ailing pontiff will be in attendance.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/107/metro/Call_to_Rome_not_enough+.shtml

'I return home encouraged...' - Cardinal Law
Following is a statement by Cardinal Law, released by the archdiocese last night:For the past few days I have been in Rome to seek counsel and advice. The focus of my meetings was the impact of the Shanley and other sexual abuse cases upon public opinion in general and specifically upon the members of the Archdiocese. The fact that my resignation has been proposed as necessary was part of my presentation.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/107/metro/_I_return_home_encouraged_+.shtml

Most Catholics in poll want a resignation - Boston Globe
A sizable majority of Boston-area Catholics surveyed now want Cardinal Bernard F. Law to resign over his handling of the clergy sexual abuse scandal, according to a Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/107/metro/Most_Catholics_in_poll_want_a_resignation+.shtml

The priceless gift of the priesthood - Boston Globe Opinion
I LOVE BEING a priest. To be a priest is to be given a precious gift and invited to serve people and work for the greater glory of God in a special way. I realize that such convictions may strike some as inconceivable in today's world, but they are true for me and for so many men who have chosen to minister as priests in the Catholic Church.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/107/oped/The_priceless_gift_of_the_priesthood+.shtml

Lawyer seeks more records on Shanley - Boston Globe
The lawyer for a young man who says he was abused by the Rev. Paul R. Shanley plans to argue in Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge today that the Archdiocese of Boston has failed to turn over all documents relevant to the case.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/107/metro/Lawyer_seeks_more_records_on_Shanley+.shtml

Case records destroyed despite court rule - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Shredding documents a common practice in effort to gain space
The practice came to light recently after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel requested records in a lawsuit in which the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese sued 14 insurance companies for failing to pay claims made by victims of pedophile priests.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/apr02/35791.asp

Panel wants more details released on accused priests - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Six from Milwaukee Archdiocese still serving in public ministries

The head of a church-appointed commission said Tuesday that the Milwaukee Archdiocese should release more details about six priests who remain in public ministries despite having been accused in the past of sexualmisconduct.

Howard Eisenberg, commission chairman and dean of the Marquette Law School, stopped short of calling for the priests' names and assignments to be disclosed.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/apr02/35799.asp?format=print

Calls for sexual abuse royal commission - Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Two months after the Anglican Church in Queensland announced an inquiry into the child sex abuse claims that embroiled the Governor-General, the Church remains frustrated, unable to find anyone to head its private inquiry into the matters.
http://www.abc.net.au/am/s533440.htm

PM says royal commission into Church sex abuse unlikely - Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, says he has ruled out a royal commission into sex abuse of children through churches, despite a call by Brisbane's Anglican Archbishop Dr Philip Aspinall.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/australia/2002/04/item20020417000510_1.htm

Among the Vatican Goals, Guidelines for Priests - New York Times
ROME, April 16 - American cardinals have been summoned to the Vatican next week not only to talk about sexual abuse involving priests but also to agree on guidelines ``aimed at restoring a sense of safety and tranquillity to families and trust to clergy and the faithful,'' according to a statement issued today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/17/national/17VATI.html

Long Island Diocese to Remake Team Investigating Sex Abuse Cases - New York Times
The Catholic Church's top official on Long Island has dismantled a three-man team of clergymen that had been assigned in 1992 to investigate sex abuse allegations against priests, and vowed to replace it with a more diverse group that would include lay people, officials said yesterday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/17/nyregion/17ROCK.html

In the shadow of failed leaders - Chicago Tribune Editorial
By publicly summoning the eight key cardinals of the U.S. Roman Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II has shown that he grasps the urgency and gravity of a crisis gripping his American flock of 63 million believers.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0204170051apr17.story

Uniform Policy on Priests' Abuse Proposed - Washington Post
D.C.'s Cardinal McCarrick Urges More Openness With Public, Authorities

When American cardinals meet behind closed doors with Pope John Paul II next week, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington said yesterday, they should adopt a national policy requiring every diocese in the United States to notify civil authorities of any credible allegation of sexual abuse by priests.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62892-2002Apr16.html

Reluctant Mexican Church Begins to Question Its Own - Washington Post
For First Time, a Bishop Acknowledges Pedophilia Cases
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62954-2002Apr16.html

A Belief So Deep, Priest Scandals Can't Shake It - Los Angeles Times
Catholics like Maria Lopez don't lose faith. She says God does too much for her.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-000027382apr17.story

Priest Convicted in 1981 Sex Case - Los Angeles Times
The Catholic clergyman faces up to five years in prison for molesting a teenage girl in Northern California. He is acquitted of raping another girl
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-041702kimball.story

Priest Sues Woman Over Sex Accusations - Los Angeles Times
Msgr. Lawrence J. Baird of the Orange diocese follows through with demand that Lori Haigh retract charges.

A top priest with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange filed a slander suit Friday against a San Francisco woman who alleged he made sexual advances.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000027465apr17.story

The Vatican acts - Times-Union Editorial
Rome must make it clear there will be zero tolerance of clergy abuse
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyKey=81085&category=O

Vatican steps in - Bergen Record
Summoning the cardinals is good sign
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?level_3_id=35&page=3232629

Church's problems not new - San Francisco Chronicle Opinion
IN HIS quest to root out wrongdoing in the Roman Catholic Church, District Attorney Terence Hallinan has asked the Archdiocese of San Francisco to turn over 75 years worth of records that might implicate priests accused of child sexual abuse. Why stop at 75?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/04/17/ED96298.DTL

When in Rome, Denial Won't Suffice - New York Daily News Opinion
By summoning 13 American cardinals to Rome next week, Pope John Paul has clearly recognized that the child sex abuse scandal in the U.S. Catholic Church cannot be dismissed as a parochial problem with decisions left to individual archdioceses. The Vatican is exercising the power with which it is invested.
http://www.nydailynews.com/today/News_and_Views/Opinion/a-147862.asp

A summons from Rome - St Louis Post-Dispatch
POPE John Paul II's decision to call the cardinals of the American Catholic Church to Rome next week to discuss the widening clergy sexual abuse scandal is an encouraging sign that the Vatican has finally realized it has a serious problem on its hands.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/Editorial/31E614C83450930F86256B9E0040DCB0?OpenDocument&Headline=A%20summons%20from%20Rome

Priest Sent to Therapy Is Accused of Abuse - Los Angeles Times
A 34-year-old man alleges he was molested by clergyman who failed to comply with church-ordered treatment.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000027375apr17.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dcalifornia

Tearfully, man tells of sex abuse - Philadelphia Inquirer
As he told of assault in a church rectory at age 12, Philip Thomas Young sobbed.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/3080407.htm

Catholics hope talks bring new openness: Church asked to shed secrecy, begin recovery - Detroit Free Press
Detroit area Catholics said Tuesday they hope unprecedented meetings between U.S. cardinals and Vatican officials in Rome next week will stem their anguish over the sex-abuse scandal involving priests.
http://www.freep.com/news/religion/priest17_20020417.htm

Priest's Getaway Home - Newsday
He took some victims there, lawyer alleges

The Rev. James Smith, accused of molesting dozens of boys and girls in various parishes of Queens years ago, sometimes took the youngsters to a second home on Long Island, an attorney for the alleged victims says.
http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-nyprop172672351apr17.story

Jesuit leader's exit was sudden - The Dallas Morning News
Abuse allegation a first for former school chief, current president says

The former Jesuit College Preparatory School president accused of sexual abuse left his post suddenly and inexplicably more than 20 years ago, according to people who were associated with the prominent Catholic institution at the time.
http://www.dallasnews.com/religion/stories/041702dnmetjesuit.1d4fc.html

Teachings of the church - San Francisco Chronicle Opinion
The issue isn't celibacy, but its misuse
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/04/16/ED120387.DTL

Church Abuse Prosecutors Check Cases - AP
Pursuing allegations of sex abuse by clergy from years or even decades ago, prosecutors across the country are scrutinizing the limits on trying old cases and toughening demands for Roman Catholic Church records.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020417/ap_on_re_us/church_abuse_prosecutors_1

Molester Priest: I Strayed, But Not With Underage Girls - San Francisco Chronicle
Donald Wren Kimball, the Santa Rosa priest convicted of molesting a 13-year-old girl two decades ago, said in an interview to be aired tonight that he never sexually abused girls but that women "were coming on to me" because of his position.

Priest with area ties accused of sex abuse - MSNBC
McAdoo native admits to improper contact with girl 30 years ago
http://www.msnbc.com/local/hss/m172749.asp

Cardinals to Face Tough Questions From Vatican - Reuters
BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. Roman Catholic cardinals, under fire at home for mishandling the scandal over sexual abuse of minors by priests, are likely to face tough questions from superiors in Rome about how they let the controversy mushroom out of control.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&564&e=2&u=/nm/20020417/ts_nm/crime_church_dc_14

APRIL 16
A costly crisis - Boston Globe Opinion
The cardinal is in hiding, and the future of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is in a frightening state of flux.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/106/metro/A_costly_crisis+.shtml

South End priest says church must shed corporate image - Boston Globe
A priest who is one of Cardinal Bernard F. Law's most vocal backers said the cardinal must take a more spiritual focus and should sell off his official residence, close some Catholic schools, and drop some social services.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/106/metro/South_End_priest_says_church_must_shed_corporate_image+.shtml

The Vatican's role - Boston Globe Editorial
YESTERDAY'S DECISION by Pope John Paul II to summon the American cardinals to the Vatican is an encouraging sign that church leaders will give serious consideration to the tectonic effects of the church's mishandling of child sexual abuse by its priests. The call to Rome came just two days after the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops announced, following a visit with the pope and other church leaders, that the Vatican was leaving it up to US church leaders to resolve the scandal.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/106/editorials/The_Vatican_s_role+.shtml

Vicar: Sell non-faith-based holdings - Boston Herald
The parochial vicar of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross has posted a ``Plan for the New Millennium'' on the church's Web site(http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/cathedral/resolution.htm), advocating the archdiocese sell schools and other properties if they fail to deliver the true teachings of the faith.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/prie04162002.htm

Dallas Catholics Rally for Priest - AP
DALLAS - More than 2,000 parishioners at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church rallied to the defense of their priest after he was accused of not performing required criminal background checks on church workers.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020416/ap_on_re_us/church_abuse_122

Expressing Remorse, Paterson Bishop Prepares to Hand Over Names of Accused Priests - New York Times
PATERSON, N.J., April 15 - Bishop Frank J. Rodimer, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson, was preparing to hand over to prosecutors today the names of any priest accused of sexually molesting children in the diocese during the past four decades. The move came as the bishop acknowledged his "inadequacy" in handling some allegations of sexual abuse by clergy members and as church officials confirmed that he had settled a negligence lawsuit arising from one such case.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/16/nyregion/16PATE.html

Decades of Sex Abuse Are Described at Choir School in New Jersey - New York Times
PRINCETON, N.J. - In its 65 years, the American Boychoir School has created one of the nation's best-known choirs, with its sweet-voiced students, all fifth graders through eighth graders, invited to sing for presidents and at least one pope.

But in a series of interviews in the last two months, a dozen alumni from the 1960's to the 1980's described a pattern of sex abuse at the nonsectarian boarding school by two longtime choirmasters and by nine other staff members, from a headmaster to teachers' aides to a cook, that they say has resonated through their lives.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/16/nyregion/16CHOI.html

Vatican Summons All U.S. Cardinals to Talks on Abuse - New York Times
In a sharp reversal, the Vatican today stepped into the scandal arising from months of revelations about sexual abuse and pedophilia by Roman Catholic priests in the United States and said that Pope John Paul II was summoning American cardinals here next week to discuss the situation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/16/national/16VATI.html?todaysheadlines=&page wanted=print&position=bottom

U.S. Cardinals Are Called to Vatican - Los Angeles Times
Catholics: The pope summons all eight for a meeting on the growing sexual-abuse scandal.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-041602pope.story

Vatican Pedophilia Meeting Aims to Restore Trust - Reuters
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican said on Tuesday it hoped an extraordinary meeting of U.S. cardinals next week would help restore trust in an American Roman Catholic Church shaken to its foundations by a pedophilia scandal. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020416/ts_nm/pope_pedophilia_dc_14

Oakland diocese reports sex allegations - Contra Costa Times
As the Oakland diocese of the Roman Catholic Church urges victims of sexual abuse to come forward, it has reported to law enforcement officials allegations against two East Bay priests accused of sexually abusing minors.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/3072896.htm

Priest denies sexual abuse - Philadelphia Inquirer
ATLANTIC CITY - Thanks to modern technology, the 84-year-old priest at the center of a sex-abuse lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden gave his side of the story yesterday from Florida - and that version was different from everyone else's.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/3073232.htm

Parish decries 'concealment' - Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER-- Some parishioners of Christ the King Church are withholding contributions to the Diocese of Worcester until Bishop Daniel P. Reilly seriously considers recommendations they believe will help the Worcester church deal with the widening sex scandal involving local priests.
http://www.telegram.com/news/page_one/10parish.html

D.A.s press church for details - Philadelphia Inquirer
Two suburban prosecutors are following the lead of Philadelphia's district attorney in pursuing direct discussions with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia about cases of sexual abuse by priests.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/3073233.htm

Ex-principalis accused of sexual misconduct - The Intelligencier
The Rev. James W. O'Neill was head of Archbishop Wood High School in the late '80s. Last week, he was removed from his post at a North Carolina parish after the allegations surfaced.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/intelligencerrecord/article1.asp?F_num=1524191

Costa Mesa Priest Removed for '81 Abuse Allegation - Los Angeles Times
A policeman said he saw Father Jerome Henson molest a boy, 13, in a Northern California cemetery. The cleric's superior then transferred him.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000027160apr16.story

Deacon Pleads No Contest to Abuse - Los Angeles Times
Catholic layman, who worked at South El Monte church, admits felony sex charges.

A Catholic deacon who worked at a South El Monte church faces more than four years in prison after pleading no contest to felony charges of providing pornographic material to young boys and sexual battery on one of them, officials said Monday.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000027139apr16.story

Editorial: Incomplete confession: Bishop must tell all before healing can begin - Sacramento Bee
Bishop William Weigand has moved in the right direction in recent days to expose past sexual abuse by priests in the Sacramento Diocese and to protect against future abuse.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/2207391p-2601021c.html

New allegations against Roman Catholic priest facing sentencing for drug charges - AP
PENSACOLA, Florida - A Roman Catholic priest who dealt drugs from the rectory also embezzled about dlrs 100,000 from his church and traded drugs for sex, prosecutors say.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020416/ap_wo_en_ge/us_priest_drugs_1

German Bishop Quits Amid Sex Abuse Allegations - Reuters
MAINZ, Germany (Reuters) - A German bishop resigned on Tuesday after allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman during an exorcism, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in Mainz said.

A spokesman for the archdiocese of Mainz said Auxiliary Bishop Franziskus Eisenbach, 58, had denied the allegations and his decision to resign was not an admission of guilt.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020416/wl_nm/germany_church_dc_1

Keeler says charges of abuse must be reported - Baltimore Sun
He vows to back proposal requiring that of every diocese at Rome meeting
http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-pope16.story?coll=bal%2Dhome%2Dheadlines

Bill Press: Catholic Church needs shakeup, starting at top - CNN Opinion
WASHINGTON (Tribune Media Services) -- If you're looking for a reason why the Catholic Church is doing such a lousy job cleaning up the mess caused by priest pedophiles, start at the top.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/04/16/column.billpress/index.html

Catholic Church's U.S. leadership mired in scandal - USA Today
As the USA's Roman Catholic Church roils with reports of sexual abuse by priests and coverups from neighborhood parishes to cathedrals, Catholics and non-Catholics alike wonder: What will it take to "purify" this church? Who will lead the way? Every week, men and women step forward with painful memories of sexual abuse by priests during their childhood or teen years.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/16/catholic-leadership.htm

Analysis: Real bishops needed - UPI
WASHINGTON, April 16 (UPI) -- Pope John Paul II will tell American cardinals in Rome next week that bishops have to be real bishops if they expect to get their church in order, Vatican insiders told United Press International Tuesday.

The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, president of the New York-based Institute on Religion and Public Life, said: "Bishops have to free themselves from the influence of therapeutic experts and lawyers. They must once again be overseers and shepherds to priests and the faithful alike."
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=16042002-022650-8329r

Sexual disorder remains a mystery - Knight Ridder
Experts want society to look at pedophilia as public health issue
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/3072995.htm

Alan Keyes, "Making Sense" - MSNBC
 KEYES: Linda Pieczynski, do you think that this Holy Father in terms of his background and teaching and the kind of approach he is likely to take offers hope for getting beyond this crisis?
       
LINDA PIECZYNSKI, SPOKESWOMAN, CALL TO ACTION: Well, one would hope, obviously, that he would address the problem of the victims above anything else. And I'm sure that is his intent.
       
 However, in order to truly do that, he is going to need to clean house. And that means he needs to ask the cardinals to step down who have been accountable for the abuse of children.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/739952.asp

Finally, pope understands abuse issue, parishioners say - The Arizona Republic
"I think he thought it was going to go away," said Mary Jayne Benton of Scottsdale, a member of Call to Action, which is made up of 25,000 Catholic lay people and clergy working to reform the church.

Still, Benton said, she welcomes any opportunity for the church to face the truth.

"People are very angry," she said. "They really are very angry
http://www.azcentral.com:80/news/articles/0416catholic16.html

Catholic leaders decline to speak on priest allegations - Winston-Salem Journal
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Catholic leaders are declining to discuss specific information about the allegation of sexually inappropriate behavior that led them to remove a priest from his post.

Father Jim O'Neill, pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church for 11 years, was relieved of his duties this weekend under a policy governing ministry-related sexual misconduct.
http://www.journalnow.com/wsj/news/MGBIWFTA30D.html

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