Law’s lasting ‘legacy’ one of tragedy, pain

There will be no tears shed around here at the passing of Cardinal Bernard Law — a man who for far too many years used his position to shield the depravity of priests who preyed on children. And because he did, the pain and the anguish was allowed to spread, the number of victims allowed to grow, and the damage to the church to reach incalculable proportions.

The man who many thought might be the first American pope would leave this archdiocese in the disgrace that he had brought on himself.

It was on Law’s watch that then-priest John Geoghan, identified shortly after Law’s arrival in Boston in 1984 as a possible child molester, was assigned and reassigned and allowed to continue to ruin the lives of more children. He would finally be convicted in 2002.

It was on Law’s watch that Paul Shanley would continue to abuse children. And when James Porter was sentenced for molesting dozens of children, Law berated for focusing on “the faults of a few.”

Except it wasn’t a few. We know that now. It took a lawsuit by The Boston Globe to unearth church records related to the cover-up and some trailblazing reporting by the Globe’s Spotlight Team in January 2002 to document the cases of dozens of pedophile priests — cases the church here under the leadership of Cardinal Law made every effort to hide.

The pattern was clear: an accusation, perhaps “treatment” for the priest and a quiet settlement for the family of the victim, always with a confidentiality agreement, usually a promise that the priest would have no further contact with young people — a promise often broken.

By March the irreparable damage to the community and to the church that would be the real “legacy” of Cardinal Bernard Law was hideously apparent.

It was at that moment that this newspaper in a March 13, 2002, editorial would be the first to call for Law’s resignation.

“It is the scale of the tragedy and the long-practiced deceit of victims and their families that has made it impossible for the cardinal to lead the archdiocese,” the editorial said. “Every cleanup of a tarnished institution . . . demands new leadership whose credibility is not in doubt. Units of a faith are no exception.”

And while the cardinal would apologize — repeatedly — in the months that followed, there remained enormous doubts about his sincerity and about efforts under his leadership to protect children in the future.

The drumbeat for his resignation would steadily grow, especially after a grand jury was convened that December by then-Attorney General Tom Reilly, to investigate the scandal that would not die.

Some 58 priests signed a letter on Dec. 9, urging Law to resign — something he would finally do on Dec. 13.

Perhaps there would be more forgiveness in our hearts had Law spent the last decade doing something noble to make amends for the pain he caused — working with the poor in the slums of Central America or comforting the sick in a remote African hospital. But no, he remained very much a Prince of the Church during that time, presiding over St. Mary Major, one of Rome’s most elegant churches.

But then again forgiveness isn’t really part of the job description here. It remains for a far higher authority to now judge Cardinal Bernard Law.

Perhaps there would be more forgiveness in our hearts had Law spent the last decade doing something noble to make amends for the pain he caused.