21.   The announcement comes in the midst of a widening scandal over pedophile priests in the Boston archdiocese.

22.   The church has been embarrassed by a series of scandals, most of them involving pedophile priests.

23.   The diocese assigned Weerts for rehabilitative treatment at a facility for pedophile priests in Jemez Springs, N.M., upon learning of the charges against him.

24.   The family accuses church officials of harboring a known pedophile priest.

25.   The Irish government is opening an inquiry into sexual abuse by priests after the resignation of Bishop Brendan Comiskey for failing to act against a pedophile priest.

26.   The pair became regular visitors to Gauthe and the late Robert Melancon, another convicted pedophile priest who has since died of AIDS.

27.   The problem of pedophile priests has been a huge and expensive embarrassment to the church.

28.   The scandal broke in January, when Boston Cardinal Bernard Law apologized for transferring the Rev. John Geoghan, a known pedophile priest from parish to parish.

29.   This was the first case of a pedophile priest to gain national attention, and it opened the way for suits here and around the country.

30.   This situation has been exacerbated by a series of scandals involving pedophile priests.