Rev. REESE: Well one interpretation is that, in fact, most bishops got their acts together in the 1980s and removed priests from ministry, removed them and sent them to treatment, supervised them better so that they got this thing under control. And places like Boston were the exception to the rule rather than really a model.

ABERNETHY: Eighty percent of the abuses reported involved homosexuality. That doesn't mean homosexuality caused the problem, but it does raise the question whether the Church should be doing a better job of screening candidates for the priesthood.

Rev. REESE: Well, the National Review Board made it very clear that they did not believe that either homosexuality or celibacy was a cause of the sexual abuse crisis. On the other hand, the numbers you show indicated to them that this is something that needs to be looked at. What they emphasized was the need for screening, for formation, for training of seminarians in celibacy. This is something they freely choose, but it's something they have to understand what they're getting into and have to have the ability to live it.

ABERNETHY: Each bishop is appointed by the pope and is responsible to the pope -- not to his brother bishops. How then can the bishops become more accountable?

Rev. REESE: Well, the review board calls for what they refer to as "fraternal correction." This means that the bishops, even though they don't have legal authority over one another, should call each other to task, even publicly. At the Dallas meeting where they established the charter for the protection of children, in the closed-door meetings some bishops did call for resignations -- said that, you know, they needed resignations before they went home. That didn't happen. And they weren't willing to do this publicly. This is something that I think the National Review Board would like to see.

ABERNETHY: Robert Bennett of the National Review Board spoke to the sex abuse problem, spoke of it as a national one. And he cited figures from the government, saying that nearly 100,000 children had been victims of sex abuse in this country in 2001. He called it "a national problem." Is there any way that what happened in the Catholic Church can be compared to what's going on elsewhere?

Rev. REESE: Well, the Catholic Church now is the most studied institution on this problem in the entire world. And we don't have comparable numbers to compare priests with teachers or psychologists or day-care centers or scout leaders or coaches, or these things. I think what the research calls for is similar research on these institutions. Hopefully, you know, what we have learned by studying the Catholic Church can help these institutions improve their procedures also. And hopefully someday the Church will be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

ABERNETHY: Many thanks to Father Tom Reese, editor of AMERICA magazine.