BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: As speculation continued to swirl about the future of Boston Cardinal Bernard Law, Roman Catholics in the U.S. -- and around the world -- are assessing this week's extraordinary Vatican meeting on the sexual abuse crisis in the American church.

Twelve U.S. cardinals and two bishops joined Pope John Paul II and other Vatican officials for two days of discussions about the problem and possible solutions. John Paul told the group there is no place in the priesthood for those who harm the young. At the end of the meeting, U.S. officials released what they called the "skeletal outlines" of a new national policy to dismiss sexually abusive priests. The cardinals recommended a special process to defrock priests guilty of "the serial, predatory sexual abuse of minors." They did not endorse a "zero-tolerance" policy for all past offenders, although some said that may still come. The specifics of the new policy must be worked out at the U.S. Bishops' meeting in June and ultimately approved by the Vatican.

Here at home, some experts said the meeting was unusually frank and open -- for the Vatican. But representatives of victims' groups criticized the gathering for not going far enough. Kim Lawton has more on the meeting.

KIM LAWTON: Joining me is John Allen, Vatican correspondent for the NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER. John, the cardinals left a lot of work still to be done by the bishops in the June meeting. How much debate are you expecting at that meeting?

JOHN ALLEN: We're expecting a lot of debate and a lot of controversy. This summit painted in very broad strokes, agreeing in broad terms to a zero-tolerance policy, for example, but leaving a lot of the details to be worked out in June.

Another interesting thing that will create debate is that they took sides in what has been the sort of competing ways of explaining this crisis. Liberal Catholics have explained it in terms of mandatory celibacy and the ban on women's ordination and the whole understanding of sexuality. Conservatives have explained it in terms of doctrinal dissent and tolerance of a homosexual subculture in the priesthood. The summit essentially ratified that second view, and that too, I'm sure, will generate debate when the bishops get together.