U.S. cardinals called to Vatican by pope

Christian Century, April 24, 2002

In a sign that the scope of the American sex abuse scandal finally registered at the Vatican, Pope John Paul II summoned all 13 U.S. cardinals to Rome to discuss the problem that increasingly seems beyond the control of church leaders.

After meeting with the pope in Rome earlier in April, Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the pontiff was "touched deeply" by the crisis. Days later the pope called the top American Catholic prelates to a meeting in the fourth week of April, signaling the Vatican's desire to move the issue--and an embarrassed church--out of the headlines.

The scandal first broke in January, when Boston Cardinal Bernard Law apologized for transferring a known pedophile priest from parish to parish. The news prompted victims of molestation--many of them abused decades ago--to alert attorneys, law enforcement officials and the news media to their cases.

Since then, Law has come under even greater fire for a new allegation that he recommended another predator priest for promotions and transfers to assignments in California's San Bernardino diocese and in New York. Despite repeated calls for him to step down, Law on April 12 vowed to remain in his post for "as long as God gives me the opportunity."

Several lawsuits filed by abuse victims have named all U.S. bishops and the Vatican as parties in a conspiracy to hide the problem. The U.S. bishops plan to discuss the problem at their mid-June meeting in Dallas.

Before the special Vatican meeting, David Clohessy, national director of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said he was encouraged by the news but admitted, "It's hard to be optimistic given that these cardinals are the men who got us into this mess to begin with."

At the same time, lawyers in Boston say the number of abuse victims who have come forward has skyrocketed since the scandal broke in January. Mitchell Garabedian, who represented 86 victims of defrocked priest John Geoghan, told the Associated Press he now has 250 additional clients. Geoghan is serving a nine- to ten-year prison sentence after he was convicted of fondling a young boy. Attorney Jeffrey Newman said he has 100 new cases, and attorney Roderick MacLeish told the Boston Globe he has 100 new clients.

On the other side of the country, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony said he made a "mistake" when he transferred a priest accused of child molestation to a hospital 15 years ago without revealing the allegations. "I think that was a mistake on our part then to not simply tell them of his background," Mahony acknowledged in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. "That simply should have been done. I take responsibility for that."

In another development, the Washington Post revealed that Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland transferred a known sex offender priest in 1979 and did not remove him until 1992. Weakland, one of the country's most liberal bishops, said he "didn't think it should be divulged," according to recently unsealed court documents. --RNS