Disgraced figure in church abuse scandal dies
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 Wednesday, the Vatican said. He was 86. Law had been sick and was recently hospitalized in Rome.
Law was once one of the most important leaders in the U.S. 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 that 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, a scandal that was recounted in detail by the Oscarwinning film “Spotlight.”
Law’s successor as archbishop, Cardinal Sean O’malley, said Wednesday 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.