Bill Press is a syndicated columnist, CNN political commentator and author of the newly-published book Spin This!

Bill Press: For priests, one strike and (maybe) you're out!

WASHINGTON (Tribune Media Services) -- We learned one thing this week: Politicians aren't the only ones who speak out of both sides of their mouths. There was enough double-talk coming out of the Vatican summit to make a United States senator blush.

Most of that double-talk was on the issue of what to do about priests guilty of sexual abuse. At the opening session, Pope John Paul II couldn't have spoken more clearly. First, on how serious the matter is: "The abuse which has caused this crisis is by every standard wrong and rightly considered a crime by society." Second, on what the punishment should be: "There is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young."

There seemed to be little doubt what the pope meant. Abusing a child, even one child, is a crime. And anyone guilty of that crime will be turned over to law enforcement -- and tossed out of the priesthood, a policy immediately dubbed by the media as "one strike and you're out!"

It's the right policy. Unfortunately, American cardinals remain unconvinced. After the pope spoke, instead of standing up and saluting, they sat down and waffled. They agreed there should be zero tolerance in the future, but in dealing with past cases of abuse, they were much more tolerant.

In their final communiqué, the cardinals agreed on dismissal of any priest "who has become notorious and is guilty of the serial, predatory abuse of minors." But, they said, there should be a different rule for dismissing priests in "cases which are not notorious." Bishop Wilton Gregory, head of the U.S. Conference of Bishops, told reporters the issue of whether a priest accused in the past could stay in the ministry will be "one of the hotly debated questions" when American bishops hold their annual meeting in June.

Pardon my irreverence, but -- what's there to debate? Let's get back to basics. True, fortunately for us sinners, the Church believes in absolution of sins and redemption. But as the pope pointed out, we're not just dealing with sins here. We're dealing with a serious crime: sexual abuse of young minors. Anyone who committed that crime, even if it was 15 years ago, should automatically forfeit the priesthood.

And what's this nonsensical distinction between "notorious" and "not notorious" cases of sex abuse? Those cardinals sound like medieval theologians debating how many angels could fit on the head of a pin. When it comes to molestation of minors, it's not the number of times that count, it's the evil act itself.

Serial abusers aren't the only ones who should be expelled from the priesthood. Molesting kids is not something you try once and get away with. Even one time is too many. To suggest otherwise, as David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, told the New York Times, "attempts to minimize the problem by focusing on the egregious abusers, when all abuse is egregious."

It is truly amazing that cardinals couldn't have figured this out for themselves. Maybe they should have consulted school administrators. Zero tolerance has long been the policy in America's classrooms. No teacher or coach found guilty of abusing children would be reassigned to another school or given another chance. Priests shouldn't, either.

Indeed, by adopting such a split decision on sexual abuse, the cardinals negated the very purpose of the Vatican summit. Perhaps someone should have reminded them. The scandal that drove them to Rome is not just the fact that so many priests have abused minors. It is also, and tragically, the fact that so many church officials refused to report child abusers to law enforcement, while reassigning them to other parishes.

If American cardinals were going to continue sweeping sexual abuse under the rug -- by coddling so-called "non-notorious" past predators and allowing them to continue their ministry -- why did they go to Rome in the first place?

Thank God for this: There are seven weeks until June 13, when America's Catholic cardinals and bishops are to meet in Dallas. This is time enough for them to come to their senses, stop waffling, follow the pope's lead and adopt a zero tolerance policy for all guilty priests.

Every priest should know the rule: No exceptions. Touch one child -- today, tomorrow or yesterday -- and you're out!

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Former seminarian Bill Press is a CNN commentator and author of the newly published book "Spin This!" His e-mail address is: BillPress@aol.com