Cardinal Law, disgraced figure in church abuse scandal, dies

VATICAN: 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 on Wednesday, the Vatican said. He was 86.

Law had been sick and was recently hospitalised in Rome. Law was once one of the most important leaders in the US church. He 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 Oscar-winning film Spotlight.

Law’s successor as archbishop, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, said on 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.

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.”