THE CARDINAL’S LETTER (Egan denounces abuse, defends handling of cases)

PFMLIT CLERGY, General, SEX OFFENDERS AND OTHERS IN POSITIONS OF TRUST

Cardinal Edward M. Egan yesterday defended his handling of sexual abuse allegations against priests when he was a bishop in Connecticut and said any priest who sexually abuses a child will be remove from pastoral ministry.  In a two-page pastoral letter, being distributed to 2.4 million Catholics across the 413 parishes of the Archdiocese of New York, Egan repeated his earlier condemnation of sexual abuse of children by clergy, calling such acts an abomination and both immoral and illegal.

(New York)