When the United States Conference of Catholic bishops met in Dallas last month, more than 700 journalists turned out to cover the story. The story is a church in crisis, and the struggle of its bishops to deal with priests who molest children. All eyes were on the man pushing for reform, Bishop Wilton D. Gregory. It's not his first time taking on a tough assignment involving scandal. Almost ten years ago Wilton Gregory had arrived in the southern Illinois town of Belleville to find the diocese in shock, and not because he was the first African American to be made their bishop. The faithful were trying to cope with a string of revelations that up to a dozen priests had been accused of sexually abusing children. It was the new bishop's task to remove the priests and organize the laity to help him restore trust in the church. His success then led to his position today: President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the most visible American Catholic, the man in the hot seat. . .this recent cover story of the BOSTON GLOBE SUNDAY MAGAZINE asks the question: 'can this man save the Catholic Church?

Find out more about Bishop Gregory

A Catholic Response to Sexual Abuse: Confession, Contrition, Resolve
Text of Bishop Gregory's presidential address to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, where the bishop argues the Church is not confronting a crisis of faith in God, but a lost of confidence in Church leadership.

Person of the Week: Bishop Wilton Gregory
Awarded TIME'S Person of the Week for his candid remarks concerning the recent sex scandals involving the Catholic Church and a history of ousting pedophiliac priests, the article details Bishop Wilton Gregory's next struggle: confronting the highly sensitive scandals at the U.S. Conference of Bishops annual meeting.

Profile: Bishop Wilton Gregory
Profiled by RELIGION AND ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY, Bishop Gregory recounts his childhood attraction to the Catholic Church while speaking candidly about racism and the various scandals presently plaguing the Catholic Church.

The State of the Catholic Church

		World's largest religious body, 2002:  The Catholic Church % of Approximate number of adherents to the Roman Catholic Church worldwide:  over 1 billion Countries with the largest Catholic populations by number:  Brazil, Mexico, U.S., Philippines, Italy Countries with the largest Catholic populations by percentage:  Italy, Poland, Mexico, Spain, Colombia Largest religious body in the United States:  The Catholic Church Percentage of Americans who identify themselves as Catholic, 1990  26.2% Percentage of Americans who identify themselves as Catholic, 2001:  24.5% Percentage of organized congregations in the United States that were Catholic before 1945:  14% Percentage of organized congregations in the United States that were Catholic in 2000:  3%

Sources: The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life; U.S. Census 2002; The Gallup Organization, FAITH COMMUNITIES TODAY, Hartford Institute for Research on Religion; Adherents.com is an excellent source for statistics on religion worldwide. Find out more about the Catholic Church Church History, 11th - 20th Century Beginning with the Great Schism and ending with the Holy Year 2000 celebration, this Web site provides a sweeping timeline of the great events that defined the Catholic Church over the last millennium. The Church and the World This Web site from Theotokos provides articles and essays devoted to the struggle between Catholicism and modernity. RELIGION AND ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY The on-line version of the weekly PBS program, offers features and profiles of the people, trends, values, and spiritual life that exist behind the headlines, including full transcripts of shows and full-text supplemental stories.