mark_4_16_2002.txt

专家系统中的分类识别程序

Pope John Paul II has summoned American cardinals to the Vatican for an extraordinary meeting to talk about sex scandals in the U.S. church. 

The talks will take place early next week, a senior Vatican officials said Monday. The official said the cardinals would meet with some Vatican officials as well as the pope. 

A source close to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said the meeting has been scheduled for April 23-24. The source spoke on condition of anonymity. 

The Vatican official said only the eight American cardinals in charge of an archdiocese will be involved in next week's talks. 

The summons comes just days after the top U.S. bishops were in Rome for their semiannual talks with the 81-year-old pontiff. The sex abuse scandals dominated the discussions. 

Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the pope wants to help. 

"He extended his hand in support to the bishops of the United States," Gregory said Saturday. "The Holy See has demonstrated an extraordinary openness in understanding the particular situation that we face in the United States." 

Gregory said there was no discussion last week of Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, who has faced growing criticism since acknowledging he transferred a priest to another parish despite knowing of sexual misconduct allegations against the man. 

Two weeks ago, Gregory told The Associated Press there was a possibility the U.S. bishops would ask the Vatican to approve a binding sex abuse policy for American clergy. He said details would be released at the bishops meeting in June. 

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Bishop Gregory and Bishop William Skylstad, the conference vice president, will join the U.S. cardinals at the meeting. Walsh said she understood that 13 cardinals would attend, including two Americans who work at the Vatican. 

The Roman Catholic Church in the United States and elsewhere is under fire for its handling of a series of allegations of sex abuse by priests. 

The church is accused of covering up misconduct by priests, in some cases by moving known abusers from job to job. It has already paid millions in damages and faces numerous lawsuits from victims. 

John Paul has spoken only briefly of the scandals and some critics have sharply faulted the Vatican for a lack of leadership in a time of deep crisis. 

the Vatican on Monday stepped into the scandal arising from months of revelations about sex abuse and pedophilia among American priests by announcing that Pope John Paul II was summoning all the American cardinals to the Vatican next week to discuss the situation.


The gathering signals a new level of focus by the Vatican, which has previously left it to the American church to sort out the problem.

The talks will take place April 23-24, a senior Vatican official said Monday. The official said the cardinals would meet with some Vatican officials as well as the pope.


A Vatican official stressed that all 13 American cardinals were invited. At the least, the eight cardinals who are in charge of American archdioceses are expected to attend. Cardinals are second to the pope in the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy. They usually are summoned to Rome only when new cardinals are named or for a conclave when a pope dies.

A special meeting of cardinals from just one country is extraordinary. Only one similar meeting has been held before, said Father Thomas Reese, editor of the Catholic magazine America.


In 1989, the pope summoned all American archbishops to discuss tensions between U.S. Catholics and the Vatican over issues such as remarriage for divorced Catholics and disregard for the church ban on artificial birth control