(CNN) Besieged by a mounting clergy sexual abuse crisis, Pope Francis plans to meet on Thursday at the Vatican with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the pope's top adviser on clergy sex abuse. DiNardo, of the archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, requested the meeting with Pope Francis as the Catholic Church in the United States faces clergy sex abuse scandals on several fronts. The Vatican confirmed the meeting, which will also include Archbishop Jose Gomez, vice president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Monsignor Brian Bransfield, the conference's general secretary. In an August 16 letter, DiNardo requested a meeting with the Pope following allegations that a former top American cardinal, Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, had sexually abused seminarians and an altar boy. McCarrick has denied the accusations about the altar boy and not responded to the allegations about the seminarians.

Source: CNN September 11, 2018 18:56 UTC