CARDINAL MEETS ACCUSER, FINDS 'GRACE'                              DAYTON DAILY NEWS                   Copyright (c) 1995, Dayton Newspapers Inc.DATE: Thursday, January 5, 1995      CHICAGO (AP)    Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Bernardin said Wednesday that the man who accused him of molestation apologized for his wrongful accusationsduring a meeting last week.   "This has been one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had," Bernardin said Wednesday. "It was a wonderful moment of reconciliation betweenSteven (Cook), myself and the church."   Bernardin met with Cook for more than two hours Friday at a seminary in Philadelphia, where Cook now lives, in an effort to bring closure to the ordeal.   In November 1993, Cook had filed a lawsuit, accusing Bernardin and another priest of sexually molesting him in the 1970s in Cincinnati while Cook was in a program for high school students considering the priesthood. Bernardin was archbishop in Cincinnati then.   Bernardin said he had sent Cook a letter requesting a meeting after the lawsuit but learned that Cook never received it. At Friday's meeting - arranged through Cook's mother in Cincinnati - Bernardin said he fully accepted Cook's apology. He said that, though he would not wish the experienceon others, he became a more compassionate person because of it.   "I felt that I was in the presence of God (at this meeting)," Bernardin said. "I could feel God's grace working through him."   Bernardin would not disclose whether Cook, 35, gave a reason for his accusations and lawsuit.   After filing the lawsuit, Cook later recanted his accusations against Bernardin and the case against him was dropped. The Cincinnati archdiocese andCook reached an out-of-court settlement against the other priest, the Rev. Ellis Harsham, who has resigned the priesthood.   Bernardin said he was never angry with Cook.   Bernardin said that in his 43 years as a priest, he had never experienced "a more profound reconciliation."LENGTH: Short :   43 LINESILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (Joseph Cardinal) Bernardin   NA: JOSEPH CARDINAL BERNARDIN    STEVEN COOKENHANCER: REF2