Pa. Prelate Joins ‘1-Strike’ Call
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PHILADELPHIA — Under intense public pressure to act decisively against abusive priests, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua joined Roman Catholic leaders Friday who want a “one-strike-and-you’re-out” policy.
The U.S. cardinals returned from this week’s Vatican summit on the clerical sex-abuse crisis struggling to build consensus for a tough approach among the nation’s bishops.
On Friday, they seemed closer. In addition to Bevilacqua, Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee and Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul and Minneapolis added their support.
No single cardinal or bishop can enact a national policy, since each diocese is autonomous. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, at its meeting in June, is expected to vote on whether to approve a national policy that will be binding on every diocese.
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