Late cardinal defended in sex scandal

BOSTON, March 25 (UPI) -- The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, rocked by allegations of child sex abuse by priests, branded Monday as "character assassination" an accusation that a 14-year-old boy was groped by Cardinal Humberto Medeiros more than two decades ago.

"I am deeply saddened by the current character assassination of the late Cardinal Medeiros," Cardinal Bernard Law said in a statement issued late Monday by the archdiocese.

Medeiros, who died in 1983, is the highest-ranking official in the archdiocese to be accused of sexual misconduct in a scandal that has sent tremors reverberating as far as the Vatican.

Garry M. Garland, now 38, of Hanover, Mass., disclosed details of the alleged abuse Sunday as his attorney prepared to amend a child molestation lawsuit filed last week against the Rev. Frank Ryan, the vice chancellor of the archdiocese for 21 years under Medeiros and Law.

Law said there was "nothing in the files" that would support such an allegation against Medeiros, and that the Medeiros family and the church "have been deeply hurt by the reporting of this unsubstantiated allegation.

"Those who lived and worked most closely with Cardinal Medeiros throughout his years as the archbishop of Boston ... deny categorically the plausibility of such an allegation," Law said.

Raymond Flynn, former Boston mayor and U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, agreed, saying priests who are alive and accused of sexual misconduct are able to defend themselves, but Medeiros cannot.

"How can a dead man defend himself," Flynn said.

In Garland's suit, he alleged Ryan took him to a Boston restaurant one evening in 1979 and plied him with wine before driving him to his quarters at the chancery where the priest allegedly photographed him in various stages of undress and performed a sex act on him.

Garland claimed Medeiros greeted them upon their arrival at the chancery.

"Cardinal Medeiros emerged from the shadows as if he were waiting for me," Garland said. "He put his arms around me and touched me inappropriately. I remember it vividly and I will testify to it in court."

Garland's attorney, Dan Shea, alleged at a Sunday news conference Medeiros gave Garland a full-body bear hug.

"It wasn't just a chaste hug," Shea said. "It was a bear hug, with pelvic movement, and with his hand down at Garry's crotch."

The attorney said his client didn't come forward previously with his charge against the cardinal because "it just finally emerged" and that he suspected Garland "had to let go of the last bit of shame."

Shea said he planned to amend the suit filed last week to include the allegation against Medeiros, and that Garland "is willing" to make the statements in court under oath.

After the suit was filed against Ryan, he was placed on administrative leave as pastor of St. Joseph Church in Kingston, Mass., pending an investigation.

Law, meanwhile, has come under increasing pressure to resign for his handling of the widening scandal involving sex abuse by priests.

Numerous church leaders across the nation addressed the issue over the weekend.

The Rev. Percival D'Silva, associate pastor in the Washington archdiocese said Sunday from the pulpit that Law should resign.

"Cardinal Law is not above the law," D'Silva told parishioners, according to The Washington Post. "He should have the common sense and even the guts to say, 'I resign.' He has to go."

Law so far has refused to step down even though he has admitted he made "flawed" decisions to transfer priests from one parish to another knowing they were pedophiles.

Cardinal Edward M. Egan told Palm Sunday parishioners at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York that he has "taken steps" to see that "there is no more of this" sexual abuse of children by priests.

"This evil will be stamped out with all the fervor of the Lord and the Lord's people," said Egan, who also defended his handling of such cases during his 12 years as bishop of Bridgeport, Conn. According to the New York Times, Egan wrote in a weekend letter distributed to parishes in the Archdiocese of New York that he established a policy requiring priests accused of sexual misconduct with a minor "to be sent immediately to one of the most prominent psychiatric institutions in the nation for evaluation."

The Rev. James C. Carter of New Orleans said that some in the clergy "violated the sacred trust put in them," and that while others have tried to handle a situation as best they could, "their well-intentioned efforts were sorely misguided."

Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said the scandal "is a source of huge sorrow and regret for me personally and for anyone in leadership in the church" and that "no apology is adequate."

In Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco, Bishop Daniel Walsh on Sunday condemned alleged child abuse at the hands of priests, but also cautioned the media on its coverage of the scandal.

"The smearing of all priests and the open questioning of their fidelity to their vows and solemn commitments because of the sins and crimes of the few has caused great pain," Walsh said.

"The misdeeds of a few of our priests have severely injured others, and the light of the media has been focused on these," he said. "The imperfect responses of myself and other leaders in the church to these wrongs, however understandable, have been highlighted and criticized throughout the media. ... The media charges of cover-up and intimations of complicity by the bishops have created an atmosphere that erodes trust and faith.

"I think it has become like a feeding frenzy," he later told the San Francisco Chronicle. "The media is doing its job. ... We want the truth out, not suppositions or prejudices."