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American Morning

Catholic Clerics to Address Sex Abuse Scandal

Aired April 22, 2002 - 07:02   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: "Up Front" this morning, top American Catholic clerics have been summoned by the pope to address the sex abuse scandals of the church. And Boston's Cardinal Law, who arrived in Rome this morning for the historic meeting tomorrow, said he wished he could turn back the clock and undo the harm he caused when handling the abuse allegations.

CNN's Alessio Vinci joins us now from Rome, where more American cardinals have begun arriving for tomorrow's meeting -- good morning, Alessio.

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning to you, Paula. Well, most American cardinals have arrived here early this morning at the Fiumicino Airport in Rome. They are telling us that they are here on a mission to restore the credibility in the U.S. church, as well as open a frank dialogue with Vatican officials. That dialogue, of course, centering on the recent sex abuse scandals that have rocked the U.S. Catholic Church in recent months.

The cardinals and the top Vatican officials are expected to discuss a series of guidelines and protocols that are directly aimed at what to do with the sex abuse scandals, what to do when the first allegations come out, how to report in to the police, what to do with priests that have been found guilty, defrock them or moving them to different parishes. All of those issues will have to come up during this discussion in order to come up with a series of guidelines, of protocols, that then the U.S. bishops will then eventually address again and perhaps even make public at their U.S. Bishop Conference, which is expected to take place in June in Dallas.

But the word here is, of course, between both coming from the U.S. cardinals and coming from the Vatican that these are not going to be binding guidelines. This is just a good opportunity to have a first frank discussion, but nothing really concrete in terms of what exactly will be addressed and what exactly will be done to address the issue will be issued at the end of this meeting.

Now, one of the bishops that arrived earlier here this morning also told us that his mission and the mission of the U.S. cardinals here is also in order to address the concerns of those who have been hurt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BISHOP WILLIAM SKYLSTAD, VICE PRESIDENT, U.S. CATHOLIC BISHOPS: I think people are disappointed, some are hurt, certainly others are angry. But by the same token, I think for me personally, this is a moment of opportunity and a moment of grace. The church has always had a history of various times of brokenness, and this is one in a more recent time. So we need to look to the future of hope and to see how we can be more responsible in our leadership for the church and for the people whom we serve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VINCI: There is a tremendous media attention in the United States over these sex abuse scandals. The focus has now shifted here in Rome.

Cardinal Law arrived earlier today. He was surrounded by a mob of reporters. Cardinal Law again repeating that this meeting is just a consultative meeting. That no one should expect any major announcements out of it. Cardinal Law, of course, being one of the men who is at the very center of this scandal.

There have been increased calls for him to resign. The "Los Angeles Times" this morning reports that at least one bishop and one cardinal will bring up the issue of his resignation during this meeting. We know that Cardinal Law was here a couple of weeks ago. The issue of resignations was brought up with the pope, but we understand from Vatican officials that at least for the time being, they will not accept his resignation -- Paula.

ZAHN: So, Alessio, how is this growing scandal perceived by Italians?

VINCI: Well, first of all, it hasn't been really made the headlines if you want in this country. It is interesting to note, for example, that this morning in the Italian press, the story about the cardinal meeting is not why are they here and what happened, but more that the way the American media is covering it. And there is certainly a perception here, not just among the American media, but certainly among top Vatican officials, that this is mainly something that has been completely blown out of proportion by the American press.

On the other side, you know, one must also remember that there have been cases of sex abuse scandals here in Europe, in Ireland, in France, in Poland, the native country of the holy father, as well as here in Italy. It just hasn't reached yet the proportion that it has reached in the United States -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right. Alessio Vinci, thanks so much for that report.

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