Through his "experience of being here when all of this was taking place, I have the ability to do something as bishop to make things better for the future," he told a congregation at Holy Cross Cathedral Feb. 10. He added that his resignation "would not serve the cause of protecting children."

A Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll of 800 adult Catholics in the archdiocese, published that morning in the Globe, indicated that 48 percent thought the cardinal should resign and 38 percent thought he should not.

News of clergy sex abuse of minors, sparked by a criminal trial of a former priest, a public apology from the cardinal and an archdiocesan decision to give local prosecutors the names of all priests ever accused of such abuse, has dominated Boston media since mid-January.

Archdiocesan spokeswoman Donna M. Morrissey said five of the newly removed priests were involved in ministry and the sixth was employed in a parish in a nonministerial role.

She said their names were among those on a second round of lists submitted to law enforcement authorities as part of the archdiocese's thorough review of personnel files going back more than 40 years. The first lists were sent to county prosecutors Jan. 30.

"The ongoing review of our records continues," Morrissey said Feb. 7, "and any clergy member found to have a substantial allegation of sexual abuse of a minor will be immediately removed and suspended from all assignments in the archdiocese pending a full investigation. Our priority is the protection of children."

In January Cardinal Law publicly apologized for past mistakes in giving pastoral assignments to child molester John Geoghan, who was removed from ministry in 1994 and defrocked in 1998.

The cardinal announced a new policy of zero tolerance, saying, "Any priest known to have sexually abused a minor simply will not function as priest in any way in this arch diocese."