RESPONDING to my letter (Irish Examiner, April 23) accusing TP O’Mahony of having a brass neck for claiming the Holy Spirit made a mistake in guiding the cardinals to elect Pope Benedict XVI ...

BETTY HARRINGTON (Irish Examiner letters, April 23) accuses TP O’Mahony of having a “brass neck to imply that the Holy Spirit made a mistake” in guiding the conclave of cardinals selecting the new Pope.

YOUR columnist Rónán Mullen went to bat regularly for Pope John Paul II and on various occasions he has also defended US President George W Bush. But he seems to have an aversion to tackling the really difficult issues.

CARDINAL Bernard Law celebrated Mass for Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Basilica yesterday, ignoring protests that his handling of the sex abuse scandal in the US Catholic Church should disqualify him from the honour.

CARDINALS yesterday began "an intense period of silence and prayer" before their conclave to choose the next Pope, saying they will stop speaking publicly to protect the secrecy surrounding the centuries-old tradition.

PRIESTS and presidents, pilgrims and politicians arrived in Rome from around the world yesterday to fete an ailing Pope John Paul as he prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of his historic pontificate today.

SURVIVORS of child abuse have renewed their calls for Cardinal Desmond Connell to step down following the resignation of Boston archbishop Bernard Law yesterday.

The Irish Survivors of Child Abuse group has called on Cardinal Desmond Connell to follow the example of his US counterpart, Bernard Law, and resign.

The most senior Roman Catholic prelate in the US was today expected to meet the Pope at the Vatican amid speculation that he will resign over a priest sex abuse scandal threatening to bankrupt his archdiocese.

BELEAGUERED Boston Cardinal Bernard Law and more than five bishops have been ordered to appear before a grand jury which is investigating church officials who supervised priests accused of paedophilia.

Whether it has been the growth of organised crime, the drug culture, or the breakdown in social values here in recent years, there was a preview of what was to come in the United States.

FACING rekindled outrage from parishioners and some priests over new revelations of clergy misconduct, Cardinal Bernard Law stayed away from Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross yesterday as protesters renewed calls for his resignation.

Some advocates for sex abuse victims have said Pope John Paul II’s first public comments in Canada on priests who molest children sent the wrong message: that the Roman Catholic Church cares more about clergy than those who were abused.

American cardinals arrived in Rome today for meetings with the Pope, saying they will take whatever steps are needed to assure Catholics that a paedophile priests scandal is under control.

The Archdiocese of Miami secretly paid several men to settle sexual abuse allegations against a Roman Catholic priest, church officials have acknowledged.