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Pope John Paul II Calling U.S. Cardinals to Vatican

Aired April 16, 2002 - 05:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Pope John Paul II is calling U.S. cardinals to the Vatican. Some Catholics are calling the pontiff's summons a trip to the woodshed. The pope apparently wants to discuss the growing child sex abuse scandal rocking the church in this country.

Our Charles Feldman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cardinals have been summoned to Rome before by various popes, but the subject matter at this gathering is unprecedented -- the problem of priests who molest children.

This scandal has already shaken archdioceses across the U.S. In Boston, some are even calling for the cardinal there to step down for allegedly shielding abusive priests. So far, Cardinal Bernard Law says he will not.

Law is one of 13 U.S. cardinals. Cardinals from around the world elect the pope and act as key advisers. News of the extraordinary meeting in Rome was welcomed by some Catholics.

JOE GALLAGHER, COALITION OF CONCERNED CATHOLICS: Well, I'm somewhat surprised because I think that what we have felt is that the Vatican has, had little or no interest in this topic.

FELDMAN: There are eight cardinals in the U.S. who head archdioceses. They will all presumably go to the Vatican next week. Three U.S. cardinals are currently stationed in Rome. That leaves two more U.S. cardinals. One is retired, the other is teaching. Neither has apparently been summoned, according to a church official in the U.S.

(on camera): We simply don't know whether there have been any private messages on this subject between the pope and the U.S. cardinals. What we do know is this, by calling them to the Vatican, the pope is now on record publicly that the pedophilia scandal rocking the church in the U.S. can no longer be swept under the rug.

Charles Feldman, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: And we want to continue to follow the crisis in the church to Rome.

Allessio Vinci, our Rome bureau chief, is there and he joins us now by telephone -- Allessio, what can you tell us this morning?

ALLESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Carol, usually cardinals are summoned to Rome when either new cardinals are named or to participate to a conclave, which is the election of a new pope. This is certainly an extraordinary move by the, by Pope John Paul II, who has asked eight American cardinals and two top officials of the U.S. Bishops Conference to come to Rome to discuss the pedophilia scandal.

Now, Vatican officials here have not released any official statement yet regarding the summons. As a matter of fact, some Vatican officials were surprised or puzzled by the fact that in the U.S. the news had come out that this meeting had been called by the pope.

But a Vatican official is telling us that the meeting will take place next week, possibly beginning as early as Tuesday. Now, the cardinals summoned to Rome include those at the very center of the pedophilia scandal such as Cardinal Egan of New York and Cardinal Law of Boston, the latter under growing pressure to resign after being accused of mishandling of a past sex abuse case involving a priest in his parish.

Now, to some Vatican observers, this meeting may come as a surprise. The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops here in Rome last week for a scheduled visit with a delegation of U.S. bishops told reporters that the pope had expressed support and solidarity to U.S. church leaders, but that the pope's intention for now was to leave the scandal in the hands of U.S. bishops, who, by the way, are set to gather at a national meeting in Dallas this coming June.

But this summons also suggests that the pope, who has been criticized, especially in the U.S., for not speaking out strongly on the issue, is now taking a more hands on approach to the scandal and the Vatican here is perhaps trying to quell some of those doubts suggesting that the pope is too ill or frail to deal with such a touchy issue -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Allessio, might the pope ask Cardinal Bernard Law to step down?

VINCI: Well, in recent weeks, days and weeks that we've asked Vatican officials here to comment on the possible resignations of Cardinal Law, all Vatican officials here have been adamant in saying that the Vatican and especially the people are behind Cardinal Law and that there were absolutely no hints that the pope may ask Cardinal Law to resign. Certainly the Vatican here is really strongly behind all these cardinals in the United States and perhaps the call here in Rome is also a way for the Vatican to perhaps take a little bit of a lead in dealing with this issue. Many Vatican officials here have been also puzzled by the fact that U.S. bishops and cardinals have been so open to the press in the United States. And so perhaps the call here may be a way to suggest to them that perhaps they should be less open in talking this, in putting this out.

COSTELLO: You know, cynical Catholics might be asking is the pope going to address the problem or just the scandal that's hitting the church?

VINCI: Well, the Vatican officials are telling us that the pope has recognized that the pedophilia is a problem and that has to be dealt with right away. It is not just a financial problem for the Vatican, for the Catholic Church. The U.S. has paid 100 U.S. Catholic, U.S. Catholics have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to settle various abuse, sex abuse cases around the United States and the U.S. being one of the leading contributors to the Vatican budget certainly Vatican officials here are telling us that this budget is not unlimited. And therefore I'm sure that they're going to try to do something not just to deal with the scandal itself, but trying to avoid that further cases may repeat.

One also has to point out, however, that most of those cases that are out in the press now are cases involving priests and, you know, 20, 30 years ago. There are no recent cases that have surfaced, certainly not in the same amount of those cases 20 or 30 years ago. And so church officials here and Vatican officials here are saying that the church is doing something to try to prevent that further cases come up. And certainly the fact that no most recent cases have come up, it is a good indication that the church is doing what it has to do in order to prevent more cases to take place.

COSTELLO: Got you.

Thank you.

Allessio Vinci reporting live for us from Rome this morning, thank you very much.

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