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Decision On Some Suspended Priests Expected To Be Announced At Friday News Conference

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Hundreds of Roman Catholic priests have left a meeting with the Philadelphia archbishop, but it's not clear if they learned the fate of 23 suspended colleagues.

The region's 1.5 million Catholics are waiting to learn about parish priests investigated after a second grand jury report into child sexual abuse within the archdiocese.

A spokeswoman for Archbishop Charles Chaput says a news conference is planned for Friday. A gag order in the ongoing criminal trial has prevented the archdiocese this year from commenting on many sex-abuse allegations.

But Chaput has said he hoped to resolve the fate of the suspended priests this spring.

The priests were suspended after a February 2011 grand jury report alleged that accused predators were still active in Philadelphia, despite a zero-tolerance policy among U.S. bishops.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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