Cardinal Law, disgraced in church scandal, dies at 86
VATICAN CITY >> Cardinal Bernard Law, the disgraced former archbishop of Boston whose failure to stop child molesters in the priesthood triggered the worst crisis in American Catholicism, died Wednesday in Rome at age 86.
Law, who spent the final years of his career leading an important basilica in Rome and continued to wield considerable influence inside the Vatican, had been sick and was recently hospitalized.
Law was once one of the most important figures in the U.S. church, serving in one of its most visible and storied posts. From 1984 until he resigned under pressure 18 years later, he was spiritual leader in Boston, the nation’s fourthlargest archdiocese, with 1.8 million Catholics.
In 2002, The Boston Globe began a series of stories that revealed that Law and his predecessors had transferred child-molesting priests from parish to parish without alerting parents or police — a scandal later chronicled in the Oscar-winning film “Spotlight.”
Within months, Catholics around the country demanded to know whether their bishops had done the same. The scandal quickly spread overseas, to Ireland, Belgium, Chile, Australia and beyond.
In Boston, Law’s death was met with anger and bitterness among some.
“I hope the gates of hell are swinging wide to allow him entrance,” said Alexa MacPherson, who says she was abused for six years as
a child. “I won’t shed a tear for him. I might shed a tear for everyone who’s been a victim under him.”
Robert Costello called Law “a cruel, selfish bastard,” while fellow abuse victim Phil Saviano wondered: “How is he going to explain this when he comes face to face with his maker?”
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, when the church “seriously failed” to care for its flock and protect children.
Pope Francis, who is being watched closely by the faithful over his handling of bishops who shield pedophiles, is set to preside over Law’s funeral rites at a Mass today at St. Peter’s Basilica, an honor accorded to all Rome-based cardinals.
Since 1950, more than 6,500 of the nation’s priests, or about 6 percent, have been accused of molesting children, and the American church has paid over $3 billion
in settlements, according to news reports and studies commissioned by the U.S. bishops.
As leader of the archdiocese at the scandal’s epicenter, Law became a powerful symbol of the crisis. His fall from grace was swift.
The release of thousands more church records exposed additional cases in which Law and others expressed more concern for accused priests than for victims. Law asked to resign and the pope said yes.
“To all those who have suffered from my shortcomings and mistakes, I both apologize and from them beg forgiveness,” Law said in stepping down in 2002.
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 Pope John Paul II died the next year, Law presided at a Mass for the pontiff in St. Peter’s. Law also continued to serve on Vatican policymaking panels.