1.   American cardinals meet with Vatican officials to try to work out national guidelines against sex abuse by priests.

2.   Among them will be Cardinal William Wakefield Baum, a Vatican official and the senior American cardinal, who will speak to the congregation.

3.   And this week Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee asked Vatican officials for a speedy retirement.

4.   As a result, a senior Vatican official said, the whole thrust of the conclusions about abortion was changed.

5.   At a news conference, Vatican officials were asked whether this meant that gay or divorced and remarried Catholics could thus never be forgiven.

6.   A top Vatican official, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, was at the time on a rare public visit to Beijing to attend a conference.

7.   A top Vatican official said Monday that the Holy See would reconsider its ties with Taiwan in order to secure better relations with China.

8.   A Vatican spokesman said earlier Friday there would be no reaction to the decisions in Dallas until Vatican officials could examine them carefully.

9.   A Vatican spokesman said earlier Friday there would have no reaction to the decisions in Dallas until Vatican officials had the opportunity to examine them carefully.

10.   Added to that prominent list Tuesday were more senior Vatican officials responsible for areas such as seminaries, religious orders, and canon law.