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American press demand zero tolerance of abusive priests


Following the meeting of American cardinals in Rome, to discuss child sex abuse by clergy, newspapers across the country have welcomed the Pope's statement the fact that the subject has been addressed. But most called for much stronger action from the church, demanding zero tolerance of clerical misconduct and calling for the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law. The New York Times said the meeting at the Vatican was "constructive" but that the cardinals "failed to embrace the kind of disciplinary reforms that would decisively break with past mistakes." The newspaper advised that Catholic leadership in the US must now aggressively follow up the meeting with a detailed strategy on how to address the issue. The Boston Globe, which was the first newspaper to reveal the extent of child sex abuse by priests within the diocese, continued its call for the resignation of Cardinal Law. "Cardinal Law has become an obstacle to reform." it said. "The moral credibility of the Church is compromised by leaders whose own credibility is so severely damaged." Journalist Mary McGrory, writing in the Washington Post, called on the public to remember the victims. "The victims tend to get lost while their clerical elders discuss the tragedy in political terms," she wrote. "No one, at least in public, quoted Christ's view of the matter as reported in Luke 17:1-3. 'It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.'"

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