Tough talking at the Vatican

The Pope has summoned the cardinals to Rome

By BBC News Online's Peter Gould

Over the next two days, American cardinals will be having some very uncomfortable discussions behind closed doors at the Vatican.

There is a single item on the agenda: the continuing scandal in the United States over allegations of sexual abuse by priests.

The past few months have seen accusations of clerical misconduct spreading across the country from one diocese to another.

The church has gone from cover-up to purge... it is a mess that is spinning out of control

National Catholic Reporter

Dozens of priests have been suspended; one has committed suicide.

Bishops have resigned, and church officials are handing over files to prosecutors.

Courts have already awarded victims huge sums in settlements. The American church is facing bills running into hundreds of millions of dollars... perhaps even a billion.

Scandal

Churchgoers have been shocked by the extent of the abuse, some of it dating back many years.

Cardinal Law: Still facing calls for his resignation

They have heard how offending priests were moved from one parish to another, only to continue abusing children and young people.

Now, amid allegations of a cover-up, some of the most senior figures in the American church are facing demands for their resignation.

John Paul II called American archbishops to Rome in 1989 to discuss the state of the church in the US. But that meeting hardly had the same degree of urgency.

Among issues to be discussed are whether a priest who has abused children can ever be allowed to stay in the ministry.

Should a "one strike and you're out" rule be applied? And at what point is an offending priest handed over to the police?

Corruption

Although cases of sexual abuse are being reported in other countries, only cardinals from the United States have been summoned to Rome.

John Paul II: Disturbed by US scandal

The American religious journal, the National Catholic Reporter, says the Vatican's perception that this is merely a problem of the United States or English-speaking countries is incorrect.

"It is a problem resulting from historical and other forces that have helped to fashion a culture of secrecy, privilege, power and exclusion," it says.

"This culture, wrapped in the aura of church tradition and official teaching, is now in danger of collapsing under the rot of its own corruption."

The Vatican is aware that the American church is now facing a crisis of trust over the activities of some of its priests.

Cardinals have pointed out that some of the allegations date back many years.

Taking this into account, they say, the number of priests who abuse young people represents between one and two per cent of the clergy.

Paralysis

But church leaders accept that the way some of these cases were dealt with in the past cannot be justified.

A culture of secrecy, privilege, power and exclusion, wrapped in the aura of church tradition and official teaching, is now in danger of collapsing under the rot of its own corruption

National Catholic Reporter

Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston is under intense pressure to resign. The National Catholic Reporter says he must step down, because he cannot play any significant role in finding a remedy to the problem.

"Some see it as unfair to single out Law," says NCR.

"But he now stands as a symbol for much of the US church - mired in scandal, paralysed as a leader, unable to function as a moral force in the wider culture."

The journal has been reporting cases of sexual abuse for almost twenty years... and warning of the consequences of inaction by church leaders.

In 1985 it wrote: "These are serious and damaging matters that have victimized the young and innocent and fuel old suspicions against the Catholic church and a celibate clergy."

Then in 1992 it warned: "A potentially crippling rift is growing between US lay Catholics and their clergy... the result is tearing at the foundations of the church."

Violation

And in 1997: "We have had 12 years of bishops and others, with a few notable exceptions, doing what was minimally required, too often driven by legal and financial imperatives rather than by justifiable outrage at the violation of innocence."

In Rome: Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington DC

For many, the scandal of the original abuse has been compounded by the way in which some church leaders appear to have spent years trying to keep a lid on the story.

So what can be expected to come out of the meeting in Rome?

There may be further expressions of sadness and regret, and a joint commitment to tackle the problem.

But the big question is how this is to be achieved. The Vatican places great reliance on canon law, the church's internal code of conduct.

Critics in the United States say that on the issue of clerical abuse, canon law lacks precision and does not allow bishops to deal quickly with offenders.

Purge

Many would like to see new procedures that reflect federal and state laws, requiring all cases of child abuse to be reported to the civil authorities.

Also facing calls to quit: Cardinal Edward Egan of New York

But the National Catholic Reporter says allegations are now flowing in so fast that it is impossible to judge their merits.

And priests were being thrown to legal authorities without regard to any due process or systematic review within the church.

"The church in a matter of weeks has gone from cover-up to purge," it says.

"It is a mess that is spinning out of control."

Whatever happens in Rome this week, the issue is certain to be the subject of further discussion in the United States.

The American bishops are due to meet in June, and the issue of how to deal with errant priests will be top of the agenda.