UNITED STATES
Crux
By The Rev. Kenneth Doyle
Catholic News Service
December 14, 2015
Q. I am an Irish Catholic/Catholic-school kid, now 68 years old, and this is what I want to know: Given the sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy, how can my Church allow Bernard Law to remain a priest — no longer in Boston, but at the Vatican, no less? Given his performance in Boston, letting him continue as a priest in good standing is awful. My non-church-going Catholic friends comment on the Church’s hypocrisy because of issues like this one. I agree with them, although I intend to remain a practicing Catholic. (Loudonville, New York)
A. In early 2002, the grave scandal of sexual abuse of children by clergy was uncovered, largely through a series of articles in The Boston Globe. Later that same year, Cardinal Bernard Law resigned as archbishop of Boston in the wake of that scandal for what was widely regarded as a lack of proper oversight on his part.
In 2004, Cardinal Law was named archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome; even though that post is largely ceremonial, some saw the appointment as the Vatican’s failure to grasp the magnitude of the sex abuse crisis.
In 2011, shortly after he reached the age of 80, Cardinal Law was replaced as archpriest of St. Mary Major. In accord with the “zero tolerance” policy adopted by the US bishops in June 2002, every cleric who has been credibly accused has now been removed from active ministry, but some have argued that bishops who failed to exercise due diligence in clerical assignments should also be punished.
In June 2015, Pope Francis created a Church tribunal to judge bishops who failed to protect children. During 2015, at least three bishops worldwide have resigned or been removed from office in the wake of sexual abuse scandals in their dioceses.
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