Philadelphia ? With Roman Catholic leaders pressured to act decisively against abusive priests, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia insisted Friday the group was unanimously behind a “zero tolerance” policy for abusers.

“All of the cardinals are agreed on zero tolerance, and by that I mean that we all are agreed that no priest guilty of even one act of sexual abuse of a minor will function in any ecclesial ministry or any capacity in our dioceses,” Bevilacqua said before a benefit dinner with seven other U.S. cardinals.

Cardinals pose for the American Cardinals Dinner in Philadelphia. Seated Friday from left: the Most Rev. William J. Levada of San Francisco, Cardinal Avery Dulles of Fordham University, the Very Rev. David M. O'Connell of Catholic University, Cardinal James Hickey, retired archbishop of Washington, and the Most Rev. Gabriel Montalvo, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. Standing in rear from left: Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago and Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore.

The U.S. cardinals returned from this week’s Vatican summit on the clerical sex abuse crisis struggling to build consensus for a tough approach among the nation’s bishops.

Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee and Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul and Minneapolis added their support to a zero-tolerance policy. Flynn heads a committee developing the bishops’ collective response to the scandal.

Other cardinals, including Edward Egan of New York and Francis George of Chicago, said this week they weren’t sure that Pope John Paul II called for such a policy during the Vatican meeting.

No single cardinal or bishop can enact a national policy, because each diocese is autonomous. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, at its meeting in June, is expected to vote on whether to approve a national policy that will be binding on every diocese.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington said the church may create a national advisory panel of experts to help bishops devise policies for handling sex abuse.

As they left Rome, the cardinals said they would recommend a process to defrock any priest who has become “notorious and is guilty of the serial, predatory sexual abuse of minors.”

Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles said Friday that the pope clearly endorsed zero tolerance for priest sex abuse. Flynn a day earlier said he supported zero-tolerance, though the church might find a role for fallen priests outside “a pastoral setting.”

Also Friday:

l Msgr. Frederick Ryan of Kingston, Mass., offered his resignation amid allegations that he molested three boys in the 1970s and ’80s.

l Church officials in New Hampshire removed two priests from their parishes amid allegations that they molested children.