VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

Reuters | By Tom Heneghan Posted: 02/26/2013

VATICAN CITY, Feb 26 (Reuters) – The sex and power scandals haunting the Catholic Church look set to play a big role in meetings before next month’s papal election after two senior cardinals called on Tuesday for more internal debate about them.

A leading support group for victims of clerical sexual abuse also made what it called a “last-ditch plea” to Pope Benedict to use his authority before resigning on Thursday to discipline bishops who have protected predatory priests in their dioceses.

The abuse issue took on new urgency after Scotland’s Cardinal Keith O’Brien, accused of improper behaviour with young priests, quit as Edinburgh archbishop on Monday and pulled out of the Sistine Chapel conclave to elect a new pope. …

Two directors of the United States-based abuse victims’ network SNAP arrived in Rome on Tuesday to draw…