By Richard N. Ostling, Associated Press, 07/24/02

| Complete coverage |  AG'S REPORT Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly released the results of a 16-month investigation into clergy sex abuse in the Boston archdiocese. Download report [PDF, 1.4 MB] (File requires Adobe Acrobat)  TODAY'S GLOBE A new leader reaches out 3 faces in crowd bound in hopeh At BC, students watch with awe O'Malley's homily reveals frank man Near cathedral, voices of protest 'Good priests' moved to tears Text of Archbishop O'Malley's homily Sandwiches, chips were bill of fare An angry protest, and prayers  GRAPHICS The moment of installation Viewer's guide Ceremony TV coverage  Processional O'Malley's vestments O'Malley's coat of arms Cathedral of the Holy Cross  REALVIDEO | NECN.com | Help with video | O'Malley to be installed today Great expectations of O'Malley Video clips require RealPlayer and Windows 98 or higher.  INTERACTIVE FEATURE An interactive timeline of the developing church crisis, featuring photos and audio.   View timeline  IN-DEPTH Boston's new archbishop Bishop Sean Patrick O'Malley has been chosen to succeed Cardinal Law as leader of the archdiocese. Reaction to O'Malley appointment Accused priests are vindicated Three priests have been exonerated after being suspended from their posts over abuse allegations.  CARDINAL BERNARD LAW Coverage of his resignation Career timeline: Priest to cardinal Changing statements on abuse Coverage of his tenure in Boston Photos: Law through the years Boston.com readers' comments  CONTACT SPOTLIGHT If you have information on child abuse by priests, call (617) 929-3208 Or leave a confidential message at this number (617) 929-7483 The Spotlight Team e-mail address is spotlight@globe.com.

The president of the U.S. Roman Catholic bishops appointed eight people Wednesday -- including a former chief of staff in the Clinton White House -- to a review board that will monitor American church leaders as they implement the new clerical sex abuse policy.

Leon Panetta, former congressman and White House chief of staff, was among those chosen by Bishop Wilton D. Gregory.

The bishop previously chose Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating as board chairman and three initial members: prominent Washington attorney Robert S. Bennett; Anne M. Burke of Chicago, a justice on the Illinois Appellate Court; and Michael J. Bland, a victim of clergy abuse and a psychological counselor who works with fellow victims for the Chicago Archdiocese.

Though the board has only advisory power, Keating pledged that it will be tough on priests who molested minors and church leaders who hid abuse cases.

"We care deeply about the church, which has been deeply hurt," he said. "Our community is angry, because the Catholic church is trailing blood."

Besides Panetta, the other new appointees were:

--William R. Burleigh, board chairman and former chief executive officer of E.W. Scripps Co., which operates daily newspapers and other media businesses.

--Nicholas Cafardi, dean of the Duquesne University School of Law and former legal counsel for the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

--Jane Chiles, just-retired executive director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky.

--Alice Bourke Hayes, president of the University of San Diego and a former administrator at St. Louis University and Loyola University of Chicago.

--Pamela D. Hayes, a New York City attorney in private practice who has experience prosecuting sex offenses.

--Paul R. McHugh, director of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

--Ray H. Siegfriend II, board chairman of the Nordham Group, an aviation service and manufacturing company in Tulsa, Okla.

A final board member has yet to be confirmed.

Keating said "this is an impressive group of Catholic lay leaders who are committed to restoring credibility and faith in the church."

Gregory, who will speak to the board when it meets for the first time Tuesday, said he was encouraged that prominent Catholics were willing to help the bishops.

The choices show "the bishops are seeking the forthright advice of the laity to help resolve the crisis," he said.

The charter on sex abuse approved by the bishops last month in Dallas says the board will supervise the new Office for Child and Youth Protection, approve that office's annual report on performance of local dioceses and commission research on the abuse crisis.

In a teleconference, Keating said Tuesday's meeting will discuss research on "how we got into this tragic nightmare" and the hiring of a director for the protection office.

He said the board agrees the director "should be a cop -- a former federal agent or prosecutor, a no-nonsense individual who can give reassurance to the public that this will end."

Keating said the national panel wants to make sure review boards in local dioceses are independent of church control. He will look to them to lobby for the removal of cardinals, bishops or priests guilty of abuse -- or covering up abuse. If local boards don't call for key removals, the national board will, he said.

Leaders from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests met with Keating earlier, and wrote both him and Gregory in hopes a SNAP member would serve on the review board -- but none will.

Keating said he plans to ask SNAP for input but he did not want board members beholden to a particular organization. He considers Bland a qualified victims' representative.

But David Clohessy, national director of SNAP, said the board's first action should be to add one member from victim advocacy groups.

"There are certainly some prestigious individuals but I'm not convinced prestige is what is needed here," he said. "The panel can only be effective if it is independent, and is perceived as such."

Susan Archibald, organizational director of The Linkup, another victims' group, said some panelists' past or present church connections "suggest a conflict of interest."

Keating said that won't be a problem. "All of us are independent-minded people. All of us are shocked, outraged and angered by what has occurred," he said.