"Gatherings such as this are much more powerful than a nuclear weapon," one protestor said.
Expressing concern that the priest's message will "damage the unity" of the church, the Philadelphia archdiocese prohibited the Austrian priest from speaking at any diocesan-related facility.
In the 1980s, Milwaukee archdiocese bishops assumed priests who sexually abused minors could be cured through therapy, said Archboshop Rembert George Weakland.
Fr. Helmut Schüller, a leader in Austria's call for church reform, will bring his message to the United States this summer in his first American speaking tour.
Sponsored by 12 Catholic organizations, Schüller will begin his "Catholic Tipping Point" tour July 16 in New York and visit 15 cities coast to coast.
