IN THE NEWS - US Cardinals Called to Vatican

IN THE NEWS -April 20, 2002: US Cardinals² Called to Vatican

By Caty Weaver³
Pope John Paul II
This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program IN THE NEWS.

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church has called the highest level American church officials to his
headquarters in Rome. Pope John Paul has called the American Cardinals to meet at the Vatican Tuesday and
Wednesday. The Pope invited them to discuss reports of sexual wrongdoing by clergymen in the United States.
Roman Catholic Church rules prevent its clergymen, called priests, from marrying or having sexual relations.

Thousands of people are claiming to have been sexually violated by priests. Some of
the people are children or were children when the reported violations⁵ took place.
The reported violations are said to have happened during the last fifty years.

The Roman Catholic Church is being accused of trying to hide the reports from the
public. Critics also say church officials refused to investigate or to punish accused
priests. Reports say church officials sometimes moved accused priests from one
place to another where the violations continued against new victims.

The Pope ’s decision to call a meeting with the Cardinals and three Vatican
officials surprised many people. Pope John Paul had met last week with leaders of
the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops⁶. After the meeting, the bishops

said the Pope planned to let the American Catholic Church deal with the reports of sexual violations on its own.
However, two days later, he called for the thirteen American Cardinals to meet in Rome.

Church officials say it is rare that the Vatican calls the American Cardinals to visit as a group. The officials say it
is even rarer when the meeting is planned so quickly.

Some Cardinals say they hope to discuss establishing a national church policy about reporting possible sexual
violations by members of the clergy⁴. Reports say a few Cardinals want to discuss changing church policies
including the rule that priests may not marry.

One of the Cardinals called to the Vatican is facing serious criticism for how he has dealt with reported sexual
violations by priests. Cardinal¹ Bernard Law of Boston, Massachusetts, has admitted that he did not take action
against a priest accused of many sexual violations. That priest reportedly sexually attacked more than one-
hundred-thirty people.

The churches that Cardinal Law supervises have received hundreds of similar accusations⁷ against Boston area
priests. He says that he now will give the names of all priests suspected of sexual attacks to government lawyers.

Cardinal Law also said he had spent several days in Rome meeting with Church officials including the Pope. He
said he discussed the calls for his resignation. However, his statement suggested that he was not planning to
resign.

This VOA Special English program, In The News, was written by Caty Weaver. This is Steve Ember.

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1 cardinal   

n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的

参考例句：

• This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
• The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火，脸涨得通红。

2 cardinals   

红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 )； 红衣凤头鸟（见于北美，雄鸟为鲜红色）； 基数

参考例句：

• cardinals in scarlet robes 身披红袍的枢机主教
• A conclave of cardinals was held to elect the new Pope. 红衣主教团举行了秘密会议来选举新教皇。

3 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

4 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

5 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

6 bishops   

（基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象

参考例句：

• Each player has two bishops at the start of the game. 棋赛开始时，每名棋手有两只象。
• "Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like. “他劫富济贫，抢的都是郡长、主教、国王之类的富人。

7 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。