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U.S. cardinals to search for sex abuse solution

VATICAN CITY (CNN) -- American Catholic cardinals hope to come away from next week's meeting in Rome with "a real solution on a national level" to the problem of sexual abuse of children by a few Catholic priests.

The Vatican announced Tuesday that an extraordinary meeting with U.S. cardinals next week is aimed at healing wounds between the clergy and parishioners.

"The object of the meeting is examining the problems in the church in the United States in the wake of scandals connected with pedophilia, and (provide) guidelines in order to restore security and happiness to the families and trust to the clergy and the faithful," a Vatican statement said. (The statement)

The guidelines -- something bishops have been working on for a while -- deal with how to prevent any more sex abuse cases, and this meeting will give the Vatican a chance to have a say in how they are written.

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"We're not all branch offices. Each diocese is its own local church," said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of the Washington Archdiocese. "When the Holy Father is present, we can talk about the church throughout the country."

He said he hoped the discussions in Rome would lead to "real solution on a national level" and "a policy and a program which will guarantee our people -- as much as you can with human beings -- that this will not continue and will not happen again."

Cardinal Law to attend

The church has been rocked by revelations that some priests had sexually abused children and that various archdioceses had quietly settled scores of lawsuits over the years.

The meeting April 23 and 24 will involve 11 U.S. cardinals -- eight cardinals traveling from the United States and three already stationed in Rome.

They will meet with three non-U.S. cardinals who lead what are known as Vatican congregations dealing with matters of clergy, bishops and doctrine. There was no mention of a meeting with Pope John Paul II, but it is widely believed the cardinals will see him.

Cardinal Bernard Law, who is the target of persistent calls for his resignation, released a statement Tuesday evening revealing he has just returned from Rome where he met with the pontiff and other Vatican officials. Law said he returned encouraged in his decision to remain as the leader of the Boston archdiocese. (More on Law statement)

The scandal has mushroomed in Boston, where the archdiocese was recently forced by a court to turn over hundreds of pages of damaging internal documents. Some of them showed that church leaders -- including Law -- were aware of numerous allegations of abuse against one now-retired priest, Paul Shanley, who according to the documents had gone so far as to publicly defended sexual relationships between men and boys.

Shanley was moved from parish to parish in the Boston area, and church leaders vouched for his character when he was transferred to California.

Shanley, the subject of numerous lawsuits, has declined to comment. His case is one of several to rock that archdiocese, including the conviction earlier this year of defrocked priest John Geoghan, who was sent to prison for molesting a boy in 1991.

While many Catholic leaders have said the church failed to adequately address the matter until recently, others complained that the problem of sexually abusive priests had been blown out of proportion.

Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore cited a "media frenzy" and said he felt the church had been unfairly singled out for criticism.

"I think we have been a model to other organizations in terms of dealing with this issue," he told reporters at a press conference. Keeler called the upcoming Vatican meeting a "wonderful opportunity" to bring some closure to the scandal and make sure "that this kind of crime and sin of certain child abuse does not occur."

'Excessively high expectations'

Speaking to reporters, McCarrick said the scandal has left some priests uneasy about ministering to children.

"Now because of this, I think, people are hesitant," McCarrick said. "Young priests are hesitant to work with children, and that is such a shame because that is what so many children need is to have someone in whom they can trust and they can have confidence."

Bishop Joseph Galante of Dallas told CNN that he believes the meeting is designed "to give a better understanding in Rome to exactly what it is we're facing."

Richard Sipe, a retired priest and author of a book on sex and the clergy, said the meeting is "unprecedented" because it will focus on human sexuality.

Thomas Reese, editor of America, a New York-based Catholic magazine, warned against "excessively high expectations" about what may come from the meeting.

"Obviously, the pope cannot micromanage the priest personnel policies of every diocese in the U.S.," he said. "But the cardinals could float ideas with the pope and get his reactions."

The discussion, he said, would likely continue among church leaders when the U.S. Conference of Bishops meets in two months.

"When the bishops meet in Dallas in June, it would be very helpful to have some idea of what proposals would have the backing of the pope," he said.

-- CNN Rome Bureau Chief Alessio Vinci contributed to this report.



 
 
 
 






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