Free Republic

BOSTON -- Two American archbishops involved in the response to the clergy sex abuse scandal - one praised for his efforts to heal wounds in the Boston Archdiocese and the other now overseeing worldwide abuse claims - were among 15 men named cardinals Wednesday by Pope Benedict XVI. Sean P. O'Malley, 61, became archbishop in Boston three years ago after Cardinal Bernard Law was pressured to resign over his handling of priest abuse allegations. William Levada, 69, had been a spiritual leader for Catholics in Portland, Ore., from 1986-1995, and then in San Francisco until last year, when he was...

April 22, 2002, 8:45 a.m. The Gay Question Amid the Catholic Church’s Current Scandals, an Unignorable Issue. By Rod Dreher, from the April 22, 2002, issue of National Review The first thing to understand about the Catholic Church's pedophilia scandal is that it is not technically a pedophilia scandal. Despite the gruesome example of defrocked Boston priest John Geoghan, whose case started the current tidal wave of revelations, the overwhelming majority of priests who have molested minors are not pedophiles — that is, like Geoghan, among the rare adults sexually attracted to pre-pubescent children. They are, rather, "ephebophiles" — adults...

Pope John Paul II addresses a meeting of U.S. cardinals at his private library in the Vatican April 23, 2002. John Paul, apparently formulating his own zero tolerance policy on child abuse by priests, told U.S. Catholic leaders that pedophilia was a crime that had no place in the Church. (Vatican/Reuters)

Dear Brothers,                1. Let me assure you first of all that I greatly appreciate the effort you are making to keep the Holy See, and me personally, informed regarding the complex and difficult situation which has arisen in your country in recent months. I am confident that your discussions here will bear much fruit for the good of the Catholic people of the United States. You have come to the house of the Successor of Peter, whose task it is to confirm his brother Bishops in faith and love, and to unite them...