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Thursday, April 25, 2002

Priests guilty of "serial predatory sexual abuse" of minors in the U.S. could face expulsion from the church if the national conference of bishops confirms recommendations issued by the 13 cardinals.

The recommendation came in a statement by the cardinals after two days of talks with Pope John Paul II on how the U.S. Catholic hierarchy should deal with the homosexual scandals that have shaken the American church.

On Tuesday the pope established the framework for the cardinals' statement by apologizing to victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests. He declared there was "no place in the priesthood and religious life" for priests who abused minors.

The cardinals addressed a letter to the U.S. clergy apologizing for "episcopal oversight" that has exacerbated the scandal.

Vatican observers saw this as a euphemism for the reports of cover-ups and mishandling of sex cases, particularly in the Boston archdiocese, where, according to press reports, the archbishop, Cardinal Bernard Law, transferred at least one known homosexual molester priest from one parish to another more than once.

About Cardinal Law

But the cardinals sidestepped the issue of whether Law should resign, as many U.S. Catholics think he should. Bishop Daniel Gregory Wilton, chairman of the U.S. Council of Bishops, told a crowded Vatican press conference Law's resignation was a matter "exclusively up to the pope and the cardinal."

Vatican sources had said earlier that all the American cardinals would be at the press conference, including Law. But the press conference was delayed for two hours because drafting the final document took longer than anticipated. Theodore McCarrick of Washington was the only U.S. cardinal to appear before the press.

In reply to questions, Wilton told reporters Law was "not dodging the press conference" but could not attend because the late start clashed with another engagement.

The cardinals' statement recommended to the episcopal conference "dismissal from the clerical state of a priest who has become notorious and is guilty of the serial, predatory, sexual abuse of minors."

McCarrick told reporters there was "probably the beginning of a real consensus" in the U.S. hierarchy in favor of defrocking priests who abused minors.

The statement recommends that bishops should be empowered to remove a cleric even when his sex abuse is not widely known, to protect young men and children and to avert scandal in the diocese.

Celibacy Upheld

The cardinals upheld clerical celibacy. "Together with the fact that a link between celibacy and pedophilia cannot be scientifically maintained, the meeting reaffirmed the value of priestly celibacy as a gift of God and the Church," the statement said.

An apostolic visitor was expected to be appointed soon to ensure that U.S. seminaries and other institutions where priests are trained, and where homosexuality runs rampant, conformed to strict Catholic moral principles.

The appointment of an apostolic visitor, usually by the Vatican, is generally appointed when church authorities have indications of grave irregularities at an institution or in a diocese.

McCarrick also outlined a five-stage formula for dealing with sex abuse cases. The first point was support for the victims, while at the same time removing the priest from his work. He called it putting the priest on "administrative leave."

The case would be reported to the civil authorities, and the priest would receive therapy before appearing before a board of inquiry consisting of clerics and lay people. Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

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