Associated Press Cardinal Bernard Law, right, administers Communion during Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, Sunday. The Vatican needs to understand that the clergy sexual abuse scandal in America is "a very serious issue undermining the mission of the church,'' Cardinal Bernard Law told parishioners Sunday as he and the nation's other cardinals prepared for a rare meeting this week at the Vatican.

BOSTON - The Vatican needs to understand that the scandal concerning clergy sexual abuse in America is "a very serious issue undermining the mission of the church," Cardinal Bernard Law told parishioners yesterday as he and the nation's other cardinals prepared for a rare meeting next week at the Vatican.

"Some have likened the situation ... to last year's Sept. 11 tragedy, a crisis which shocks the heart and soul and which must spark immediate and decisive changes in order to prevent possible recurrence in the future," Law said.

The Roman Catholic cardinals of New York, Baltimore and Miami had messages of encouragement and explanation read or played to their congregations yesterday.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., spoke on television about his hopes for the meeting in Rome, saying it should give Pope John Paul II the chance to convey his concern for the victims, his disappointment in letting down faithful Catholics and his pain over the tarnishing of the church's image and its good works.

The pope also discussed the church's troubles yesterday. Speaking during an ordination ceremony in Rome, he said bishops are obliged to investigate and take action against churchmen engaged in scandalous behavior.

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

When they meet with the pope and other Vatican officials Tuesday and Wednesday, the cardinals will be looking for guidance and backing on a wide range of issues, including whether the church should ever consider reassigning sex offenders and creating a policy for reporting abuse claims to police.

McCarrick said yesterday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he supports creating a uniform policy for handling sex-abuse allegations in all U.S. Catholic dioceses.

Boston became the epicenter of the sexual-abuse controversy in January, when published reports disclosed that Law and other church leaders had reassigned a priest accused of pedophilia. The now-defrocked priest, John Geoghan, was convicted this year of fondling a 10-year-old boy and has been accused of molesting dozens of others.

Law, in his first public appearance since Easter, yesterday acknowledged criticism of his dealing with priests accused of sexual abuse, at least two of whom were moved from parish to parish despite the allegations.

"Despite the anger and broken trust that many feel toward me, and despite perceptions that next week is simply a gathering of aged, conservative cardinals and Vatican officials, please know that as long as I am in position to do so, I will work tirelessly to address this crisis and to underscore its severity," Law said.