21 Priests Suspended

NEW YORK -- Twenty-one Roman Catholic priests in Philadelphia have been suspended after being linked to an investigation into widespread child molestation, church authorities said on Tuesday. The suspensions followed a Grand Jury report that identified 37 current or former priests. "I wish to express again my sorrow for the sexual abuse of minors committed by ant members of the Church, espcially clergy," Cardinal Justin Rigali, the archbishop of Philadelphia, said in a statement. "I am trully sorry for the harm done to the victims of sexual abuse, as well as to the members of our community who suffer as a result of this great evil and crime." - AFP (as published in Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A24, March 01, 2011)