Cardinal won't celebrate Latin mass

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WASHINGTON, April 21 (UPI) -- The group sponsoring a Latin mass in Washington said Wednesday it has removed the celebrant, a cardinal touched by the sex abuse scandal.

The Paulus Institute announced on its Web site that Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos of Colombia will not be celebrating the traditional liturgy Saturday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The group said it is seeking another bishop.

French newspapers reported last week that in 2001 Castrillon, then a Vatican official, wrote Bishop Pierre Pican, who had been convicted of failing to report a sexually abusive priest, praising his action.

Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests or SNAP wrote Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington this week, asking that Castrillon be removed as the celebrant, The Washington Post reported.

"To hold the cardinal up in a position of honor and leadership after what he's said would just rub salt in to the wounds of millions of betrayed Catholics and thousands of wounded victims," David Clohessy, the group's director, said.

SNAP praised the institute Wednesday.

Castrillon caused more uproar when he said Saturday Pope John Paul II had approved his words.