ANGER
Cardinal Bernard Law, the disgraced former archbishop of Boston whose failures to stop child molesters in the priesthood sparked what would become the worst crisis in American Catholicism, died early yesterday, the Vatican said. He was 86. He had been sick and was recently hospitalised in Rome.
Law was once one of the most important leaders in the US church. He broadly influenced Vatican appointments to American dioceses, helped set priorities for the nation’s bishops and was favoured by Pope John Paul II.
But in January 2002, the Boston Globe began a series of reports that used church records to reveal Law had transferred abusive clergy among parish assignments for years without alerting parents or police. Within months, Catholics around the country demanded to know whether their bishops had done the same. The scandal was recounted in detail in the Oscar-winning film Spotlight.
Law’s successor as archbishop, Cardinal Sean O’malley, said it was a “sad reality” that Law’s legacy will forever be tied to the abuse scandal since he led the Boston archdiocese at a time “when the church seriously failed” in its job to care for its flock and protect children.
“I offer my sincere apologies for the harm they suffered, my continued prayers and my promise that the archdiocese will support them in their effort to achieve healing,” O’malley said in a statement.
Law tried to manage the mushrooming scandal in his own archdiocese by first refusing to comment, then apologising and promising reform. But thousands more church records were released describing new cases of how Law and others expressed more care for accused priests than for victims. Amid a groundswell against the cardinal, including rare public rebukes from some of his own priests, Law asked to resign and the Pope said yes.
“It is my fervent prayer that this action may help the archdiocese of Boston to experience the healing, reconciliation and unity which are so desperately needed,” Law said when he stepped down as head of the Boston archdiocese in December 2002. “To all those who have suffered from my shortcomings and mistakes, I both apologise and from them beg forgiveness.”
It was a stunning fall from grace for Law and a rare step for the church, which deeply resists public pressure but could no longer hold out given the scope of the crisis. Since 1950, more than 6,500, or about 6 per cent of US priests, have been accused of molesting children, and the American church has paid more than $3 billion in settlements to victims, according to studies commissioned by the US bishops and media reports. As the leader of the archdiocese at the epicentre of the scandal, Law remained a symbol of the church’s widespread failures to protect children.
Still, Law retained some support in the Vatican. In 2004 he was appointed archpriest of the Basilica of St Mary Major, one of four principal basilicas in Rome. When John Paul died the next year, Law was among bishops who presided at a memorial Mass for the pontiff in St Peter’s Basilica. Law also continued for years to serve in Vatican policy-making committees, including the Congregation for Bishops, which recommends appointments to the pope. Advocates for victims saw the posts as a tonedeaf sign of favour for Law by church officials unrepentant about abused children.
“Cardinal Law’s soft landing in Rome, after his Boston disgrace, reminds us that prelate privilege remains the rule in Catholicism,” said Terence Mckiernan, of Bishopaccountability.org, an online database of the global church sex abuse scandal and the bishops who enabled it.
Law had been expected to leave a far different mark on the church.
Born in Mexico, Law was the only child of a US Air Force colonel and a mother who was a Presbyterian convert to Catholicism. He was educated throughout North and South America and the Virgin Islands before graduating in 1953 from Harvard University. He was ordained in 1961 and campaigned for civil rights in Mississippi, sometimes travelling in the boots of cars for safety. After a post with the national bishops’ conference, he was named bishop of the Diocese of Springfield-cape Girardeau in Missouri, then archbishop of Boston in 1984.
Law was a prominent voice in Massachusetts and beyond, especially on abortion. He publicly challenged public officials such as Gov William Weld and Lt Gov Paul Cellucci over their support for abortion rights. The cardinal was among a chorus of bishops sharply critical of Geraldine Ferraro, the 1984 Democratic nominee for vice president and a Catholic, over her support for abortion rights. Under President George W Bush, Law was a regular visitor to the White House.
Within the church, he was devoted to building Catholicjewish relations, including leading a delegation of Jewish and other Massachusetts leaders in a 1986 visit to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. He worked closely with church leaders in Latin America, acting as an unofficial envoy of the pope to Cuba and revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.
However, Law’s legacy has been overshadowed by the scandal. In the notorious case that started the 2002 crisis, the Globe reported that Law and two of his predecessors as Boston archbishop had transferred former priest John Geoghan among parish assignments despite knowing he molested children. More than 130 people eventually came forward to say Geoghan abused them. The archdiocese paid $10m in settlements to 86 victims and relatives as Law was clung to his job. It was nowhere near enough to ease the growing anger.
As he announced that he would leave, Law asked Boston Catholics, “Please keep me in your prayers.” © New York Times 2017. Distributed by NYT Syndication Service The Scotsman welcomes obituaries and appreciations from contributors as well as suggestions of possible obituary subjects. Please contact: Gazette Editor n The Scotsman, Level 7, Orchard Brae House, 30 Queensferry Road, Edinburgh EH4 2HS; n gazette@scotsman.com
“Cardinal Law’s soft landing in Rome, after his Boston disgrace, reminds us that prelate privilege remains the rule in Catholicism”