ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Law school dean heads review board

Five lay members were appointed to the board dealing with sex-abuse reforms.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The leader of the nation's Roman Catholic bishops named Nicholas Cafardi, dean of the Duquesne University Law School in Pittsburgh, as chairman of the National Review Board on Friday. The lay panel monitors the church's reforms to prevent sexual abuse.
Cafardi, part of the board since it was formed in 2002, will serve through next June.
Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, also chose five new lay appointees to three-year terms, replacing members who have left the board:
UMichael Merz, a United States magistrate judge in Dayton, Ohio, the past two decades.
UPatricia O'Donnell Ewers, formerly the first woman president of New York's Pace University and now an educational consultant.
UAngelo Giardino, a pediatrician, vice president for clinical affairs and previously medical director of the child protection program at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.
URalph Lancaster Jr., a lawyer in Portland, Maine, handling both civil and criminal litigation.
UJoseph Russoniello, a San Francisco lawyer specializing in criminal and corporate cases and formerly a U.S. attorney.
Significance
Gregory said the review board has been "vitally important" in helping the bishops deal with the crisis over priestly abuse of minors.
The board issued major reports in February on the extent of abuse cases and factors underlying the scandal.
Its ongoing tasks include supervision of annual reports on all dioceses' compliance with reforms and a long-range research study on sexuality in the priesthood.