U.S. bishops meet to discuss priest scandal

Cardinal William Keeler, left, and Bishop W. Francis Malooly leave Baltimore, Maryland, on Wednesday en route to the Texas conference.

DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- Under pressure to take a tough stand against sexually abusive priests, Roman Catholic bishops convened Wednesday amid controversy over how the church has handled the problem.

"We have really lost a lot of credibility, but I think the best approach is to meet here [and] get a strong, clear direction," Cardinal Roger Mahony, the archibishop of Los Angeles, told CNN.

A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll underscored that credibility problem, finding that only one in five Catholics has a great deal of confidence in the bishops to deal appropriately with the problem. The public at large reported a lower level of confidence.

The church has been shaken by a series of cases and allegations that, for decades, some priests molested children and -- instead of being relieved of their duties -- were merely moved from parish to parish. The epicenter for the scandal has been Boston, Massachusetts, where Cardinal Bernard Law has been sharply criticized for his handling of such cases.

MORE STORIES New York bishop resigns    KEY PLAYERS • Harry J. Flynn, 69, archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Will be defending proposals from the dais. In charge of the U.S. bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse.   • Wilton D. Gregory, 54, bishop of Belleville, Illinois, since 1994. Will guide deliberations. Gregory is the first black president of the U.S. bishops.   • Bernard F. Law, 70, cardinal and archbishop of Boston since 1984. Victims of abuse have claimed his administration ignored complaints and coddled abusive priests.   • Roger M. Mahony, 66, cardinal and archbishop since 1985 of Los Angeles -- with 4,148,720 members, the largest U.S. archdiocese. Has insisted on a nationwide policy of "zero tolerance -- past, present and future" toward abusive priests.      MORE STORIES   •  Cardinal denies settlement with alledged sex abuse victims  RESOURCES   •  TIME.com: Catholicism in Crisis   •  The pope's letter   •  Interactive: Catholic Church faces scandal   •  In-Depth: Crisis in the Priesthood

Washington's Cardinal Theodore McCarrick said he hoped the conference would resolve what he called "a terrible situation" for the church.

At the conclusion of the conference, McCarrick said, he wants to be able to tell both victims and parishioners: "We heard you, we have listened to you, we have shared your pain. Our hearts are broken, too. But we are fixing it now. It is never going to happen again."

Various archdioceses have revealed they doled out millions of dollars to settle lawsuits involving allegations of sexual misconduct. In recent months, dozens of priests have been reassigned or forced to resign. And, in an extraordinary move, Pope John Paul II summoned U.S. cardinals to the Vatican in April to discuss the scandal.

"We made mistakes," Mahony said. "I made mistakes. But we're here to fix them and make sure that doesn't happen again."

Earlier this month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a draft series of proposals for disciplining sexually abusive priests. While the report called for the removal of any priest from his duties if he molests children in the future, it said that clerics should be able to hold their posts if there is one offense from the past and no incident reported since then.

Many abuse victims and their families have expressed disappointment with that proposal, and some bishops have also said they feel it is inadequate.

"I am not happy with it because it allows for exceptions," Mahony said. "There can't be any exceptions. This has got to be a zero-tolerance past, present, future. It's the only way."

The CNN poll found that 70 percent of Catholics support a zero-tolerance policy.

Some protesters gathered at the site of the conference, which officially kicks off Friday with meetings and concludes with a prayer session Saturday. About 300 active and retired U.S. bishops are expected to attend.

"Grace in truth, not in secrecy," read one man's sign. One woman said she hoped the conference would focus on "prevention, tighter seminary screening, a program for the 21st century."