VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul, formulating his own zero tolerance policy on child abuse by priests, told American Catholic leaders Tuesday that pedophilia was a crime that had no place in the Church.
Addressing a crisis meeting of top U.S. churchmen and Vatican officials, he also offered comfort to victims of pedophile priests and said he hoped the scandal that has rocked the United States would lead to "a holier priesthood."
"The abuse which has caused this crisis is by every standard wrong and rightly considered a crime by society: it is also an appalling sin in the eyes of God," he said.
The Pope's powerful, clear words may determine whether the U.S. Church formulates policy to expel pedophiles from the priesthood and hand them over to civil authorities.
The U.S. Church has been shaken by revelations that bishops transferred priests known to have molested children from parish to parish instead of defrocking them.
The Pope, who said he was "deeply grieved" by the scandal, said pedophiles could not be allowed to hide in the priesthood.
"People need to know that there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young," he told the meeting, which one of the 24 participants called "very serious, even somber."
Officials said before the meetings they would seek Vatican guidance on whether pedophile priests can stay in the ministry or if a "one strike and you're out" rule should be applied.
Asked if the Pope was calling for such a rule, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia said: "We have to study that passage. That's one way it can be read."
Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles said: "(The Pope) is being as clear as he can be. There is no place for abusers in the priesthood, whatsoever. You can convert hearts and offer reconciliation but you can't reassign them (pedophile priests)."
Churchmen in the United States will next June formulate policy on the dismissal of priests who have abused children.
Cardinal Adam Joseph Maida of Detroit said he wanted strict action and welcomed the Pope's words.
"I would prefer we come clean. We need to root out the kind of priest or other people who would take advantage of our young children," he told CNN.
SOLIDARITY WITH VICTIMS
While the Pope has apologized to victims of past pedophile scandals he did not use the word in his address Tuesday.
"To the victims and their families, wherever they may be, I express my profound sense of solidarity and concern," he said.
In the United States, victims and their lawyers said priests responsible for these sex crimes must be held accountable, as well as Catholic leaders who moved pedophile priests from one parish to another rather than turn them in to the authorities.
"You can't have the cardinals simply dealing with themselves on this issue, it's like asking the fox what's going on in the hen house," Robert Sherman, a lawyer for alleged abuse victims, told CNN.
The Pope also appeared to attempt to cut short any possible talk of changes in the church's rule of priestly celibacy, which some have said might be open for discussion during the meetings.
Catholics "must know that bishops and priests are totally committed to the fullness of Catholic truth on matters of sexual morality."
But he said the crisis went beyond pedophilia.
"The abuse of the young is a grave symptom of a crisis affecting not only the Church but society as a whole. It is a deep-seated crisis of sexual morality," he said.
He also said the recent scandals should not stain the entire U.S. Church and asked American Catholics to support their bishops and priests in a time of unprecedented crisis.
"A great work of art may be blemished, but its beauty remains," the Pope said.
The Pope said he hoped the crisis would lead to "a purification of the entire Catholic community," adding that "so much pain, so much sorrow, must lead to a holier priesthood, a holier episcopate, and a holier Church."
Among the cardinals who attended the meeting was Boston Cardinal Bernard Law, the prelate at the heart of the scandal.
There have been media reports that some cardinals in the group feel the only way out of the crisis would be for the Vatican to force out Law, the senior U.S. prelate.
"Nothing about his resignation came up (at the meetings)," said Cardinal Francis George of Chicago.