U.S. cardinals arrive at Vatican

VATICAN CITY -- U.S. Roman Catholic cardinals have begun arriving in Rome for meetings with the Vatican aimed at restoring trust in the church after a string of child sex abuse scandals.

Thirteen U.S. cardinals are expected to meet Pope John Paul II on Tuesday and Wednesday.

At the weekend, the pope sent out a strong message about what might be discussed by telling a group of Nigerian visitors that priests must live celibate lives and avoid scandalous behaviour.

Bishops, he said, without directly referring to the U.S. situation, must investigate such behaviour and take action to end it.

The scandals, in which several priests have been accused of abusing children and teenagers, have shaken confidence in the American Church, cost it millions of dollars in settlements and raised questions about bishops' handling of the investigations.

RESOURCES Factfile: Church rocked by sex scandals

The pope told the meeting with Nigerian priests: "The value of celibacy as a complete gift of self to the Lord and his Church must be carefully safeguarded.

"Behaviour which might give scandal must be carefully avoided, and you yourselves must diligently investigate accusations of any such behaviour, taking firm steps to correct it where it is found to exist."

The Vatican is set to discuss with the U.S. cardinals possible guidelines on how to deal with future scandals.

Monsignor Francis Maniscalco, spokesman for the U.S. Bishops' Conference, was reported by Reuters as saying the cardinals and Vatican would examine whether there was any situation where a paedophile priest could continue in his ministry, such as in a chaplaincy for an old-age home.

They will discuss "whether this means that everyone with this background is out or whether there can be degrees of misconduct where someone can be declared safe after treatment," Maniscalco said.

They are also expected to discuss when paedophile priests should be handed over to civilian authorities.

The U.S. scandal has centred mostly on Boston, where Cardinal Bernard Law has said he will not step down despite being accused of moving paedophile priests from parish to parish for many years after psychological treatment rather than defrocking them.