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Pope Meeting With American Cardinals at Vatican

Aired April 23, 2002 - 11:25   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Pope John Paul II is urging Catholics to support their priests and bishops in prayer during this ongoing sex abuse scandal. As we told you earlier, the pope is meeting with American cardinals at the Vatican in response to the scandal.

Our Miles O'Brien joins us with a closer look at the pope and how he has handled past problems, as the church grapples with this current crisis.

Miles, good morning.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

You know, those of us in the United States perhaps make a bad assumption the church is a democracy. We get used to living in a democracy with freedom, and where the viewpoint of the masses is included and valued. The church is not a democracy.

Let's talk a little bit about the pope and how he makes decisions and the power that he wields.

Now, on these extraordinary consisteries (ph), which is what this meeting is all about, basically that means he's calling a group of cardinals to discuss important issues. In the past, the pope, who is the first to consult with cardinals in this way, has discussed some of the issues, the scandal with the Vatican Bank, threats to Catholicism, such as the abortion issue, cannon law revision. The cannon laws being the actual laws, the constitutions of the church if you will, preparation for the millennium, sort of an issue that is of the noncontroversial manner, and the issue of course of canonizations, which would be in the order of an ordinary consistory.

Now the last time the U.S. cardinals were called to the Vatican for a meeting was 1989. The issue there was an issue which is unique to the American Catholic church, the issue of divorce and birth control. The American church, unlike the remainder of the Roman- Catholic church the world over, has issues which are presented to it which aren't necessarily big issues in other parts of the world.

Now, the pope, having had this meeting, didn't make any significant changes on those volatile and important issues. It is, after all, as I said not a democracy, and the pope is, after all, a very conservative pontiff. Having said all of that, despite the fact that he's conservative, he's also very consultative, also not the kind of person who strays away from controversial issues, and also a pope who has traveled and tried to meet the minds of others and other cultures for the entirety of his papacy. He's the first non-Italian pope in 456 years. He's traveled 730,000 miles. That would be the equivalent of going around the Earth some 28 times. He speaks eight languages, and as a result, is very consultative to a broad group.

You look here at some of the trips that he has made over the course of the years, and the onroads that he has made to other religions. Sometimes that has met with controversy, but he's never steered clear of it.

The reason I bring up all of this is there's, despite this appearance of being open to new ideas, the church is not a very bending type of structure; it doesn't change quickly. And the issue which many people feel needs to be discussed more than any other issue is the issue of celibacy, and the issue also of allowing women in the priesthood. These are not issues which this pope will entertain with any sort of guidance or desire to change at all.

He's very conservative, and the cardinals who he is consulting with, every single one of them there, the 13 there, from the U.S. -- actually 12 of the 13, were appointed by this pontiff. So they're very like-minded. So the church not a democracy. The pope is the person who wields the power while he is consulting with the American priest on all of this, listening to them. The bottom line is, all the power rest with him -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Miles O'Brien, thank you for that background.

Appreciate it.

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