ROME (voa) – U.S. Roman Catholic cardinals are holding a second day of talks with top church officials in the Vatican discussing sexual misconduct by American priests.
Pope John Paul summoned the cardinals for two days of closed-door talks on the child sex abuse scandal that has hit the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. The church is seeking to formulate a single policy for dealing with priests accused of sexually abusing young people.
Tuesday, in his strongest words yet on the crisis, the pope called sexual abuse by priests wrong by every standard. He said it is rightly considered a crime by society and is an appalling sin in the eyes of God.
The pope also expressed what he called his profound sense of solidarity and concern for sex abuse victims.
At a news conference after the meeting, some of the cardinals said the pope’s use of the word “crime” means he is wants zero tolerance of sex abusers, believing the church can no longer shelter accused priests and must turn them over to civil authorities. But other cardinals said the pontiff also spoke of the power to turn away from sin and back to God, meaning that guilty priests may be able to remain in the church.
