By Ken Maguire, Associated Press, 07/30/02

| 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.

BOSTON -- The Boston Archdiocese agreed Tuesday to hire a policy enforcement czar and shake up an internal review board that regularly gave pedophile priests free passes as part of its effort to protect children from abuse.

The steps were outlined by two top church officials, the Revs. John Connolly and Charles Higgins, in a private meeting with Cardinal Bernard Law's Commission for the Protection of Children.

The meeting marked preliminary acceptance of the commission's draft report, which was released in June.

The review board's 13 members won't all be replaced, but there will be personnel changes, commission chairwoman Maureen Bateman said.

"It's not being replaced. It's being reconstituted," Bateman said.

Bateman said a full-time director of a new implementation and oversight committee would be hired by the end of August to make sure reforms are enacted quickly and enforced.

Law formed the commission after the abuse scandal erupted in January with revelations that church officials shuffled defrocked priest John J. Geoghan from parish to parish despite knowing of allegations against him.

The commission is scheduled to give Law its final recommendations on Sept. 6.

Bateman said the archdiocese embraced other commission recommendations including establishing an advisory board of mostly lay people to oversee a new victim advocate office and implementing training on a child protection curriculum, which will be introduced in Catholic schools beginning in January.

Jetta Bernier, executive director of the Massachusetts Citizens for Children, said she's still skeptical.

"Will all these new structures set up to receive reports and investigate cases actually help or hinder the process of involving the appropriate civil authorities? That question hasn't been answered," Bernier said.

Meanwhile in Oklahoma, a Roman Catholic bishop apologized Tuesday for a former priest's "inappropriate behavior" with young boys and said reinstating the pastor after the allegations surfaced was a mistake.

Bishop Edward Slattery of the Diocese of Tulsa said he never reported the allegations against the Rev. Kenneth Lewis to authorities because he had no evidence the priest committed any crimes.

Slattery said he was following the advice of church lawyers and other advisers when he returned Lewis to duty after the priest underwent psychiatric treatment for giving back rubs to young boys in 1994.

Lewis denied the allegations, saying he the boys alleged was just "the showing of physical affection toward young people in my parish."

"I have never, never had any sexual contact with a child or young person, period," Lewis said. "I have never done anything which could be considered sexual contact or molestation."

Still, Slattery said he shouldn't have reassigned Lewis to pastorate duties at different churches.

"That was a mistake, but let me emphasize that we know of no misconduct which may have occurred since his return to active ministry," the bishop said.

Lewis was last transferred to St. John's Church in McAlester in June 2001 but resigned without explanation last month.

In other developments Tuesday:

--In Arizona, the Diocese of Tucson adopted a zero tolerance policy calling for the removal of any priest, employee or volunteer who sexually abuses anyone under 18. Under the policy, any such allegation also will be reported to law enforcement immediately.

The guidelines, approved as a diocese rule by Bishop Manuel Moreno and Coadjutor Bishop Gerald Kicanas, were recommended by a six-member committee appointed after the diocese settled several sexual abuse lawsuits in January.

--More than a dozen new lawsuits were filed Tuesday against the Archdiocese of Louisville alleging sexual abuse, bringing a total of 169 pending suits against the church.

--A 25-year-old man filed a $10 million lawsuit against the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, charging that he was sexually abused by a priest he consulted for counseling three years ago. Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling declined to comment on the lawsuit but said the priest had been under the supervision of the Franciscans -- not the archdiocese.