BOSTON, April 23 (UPI) -- Boston Roman Catholic Cardinal Bernard Law, self-described as the lightning rod for criticism for how he and other church officials dealt with allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy, a year ago was the rising star in the church in America.
Today that bright star has dimmed as America's senior prelate is under increasing pressure to resign because of the way he handled cases of abusive priests. He has called his actions "terrible mistakes," and apologized for embarrassing the church.
Whether he survives the firestorm of criticism or is ousted or resigns is not yet clear, but what is clear is that the cardinal with the closest of ties to Pope John Paul II has been besieged for mishandling cleric sexual abuse cases.
"The big thing is the way he handled the problem by passing people along without listening to the complaints that were lodged against them," Stephen J. Pope, head of the theology department at the Jesuit-run Boston College, told United Press International.
Pope said calls for Law to resign were due in part to public pressure, and some cardinals want to distance themselves from Law because his behavior "has made all the cardinals look bad."
Pope said the cardinals "must feel a lot of pressure and anger from the laity to do this."
A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll of more than 1,000 adults appears to bear that out. In the national poll, four in five questioned, including three-fourths of Catholics, said Law should resign.
Pope said he did not believe Law was being unfairly singled out, nor made to be a sacrificial lamb, but was a victim of his own making.
"I think right now his decisions about the Paul Shanley case were fairly egregious, and it happened late in the series of episodes that we can track from the '70s to the present time," Pope said. Law's "handling of this particular priest was a graphic case of someone whose behavior was outrageous and yet allowed to continue to work from one parish to the other."
Pope said for example, Shanley "had written a pamphlet on man-boy love, and was advocating bestiality. So, none of the other bishops had somebody -- yet -- known publicly to have been that egregious."
Things began to sour for Law in January when the church was forced to hand over documents involving defrocked priest John Geoghan, who was accused in some 130 complaints of molesting children. The documents showed Law transferred Geoghan from parish to parish, where he continued to have access to children, even though the cardinal was aware the priest was a pedophile. Geoghan has since been sentenced to prison for as long as 10 years for molesting a 10-year-old boy.
The situation worsened earlier this month when a lawyer representing child victims of decades of clergy sexual abuse at the hands the Rev. Paul R. Shanley got a court order forcing the Boston Archdiocese to hand over more internal church documents.
Again, it was disclosed that Law and other top archdiocese officials, knowing that Shanley had a history of molesting children, arranged for his transfer to other dioceses in Massachusetts, California and New York without telling officials there that he was a sexual predator.
Despite the pressure, Law steadfastly has refused to resign, although he reportedly had offered to do so in a private meeting with the pope last week.
Prior to the Vatican summit that began Tuesday in Rome, Law reportedly apologized to his fellow cardinals,
According to Chicago Cardinal Francis George, Law told church leaders in private Monday night that "if he hadn't made some terrible mistakes," the cardinals probably wouldn't have been called to the Vatican this week.
George also said the subject of Law's possible resignation did not come up at the private meeting, and was not discussed at Tuesday's session with the pope.
"There were reports that he did offer his resignation, and that he'd been refused by Rome, Vatican officials, at this point," Pope said. "The speculation is that they believed the timing for his resignation may not have been appropriate, or they did not want the press or public opinion to have undue influence on the behavior and decisions on members of the hierarchy."
Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick said he believed Law wants to stay on because he "feels like it's a moral obligation" for him to fix the problem "because he was there when it happened."
Law, who has declined to talk to reporters, addressed his situation in prepared statements issued to the media or spoken to parishioners in church. Last Sunday he said, "Despite the anger and broken trust that many feel toward me, and despite perceptions that next week is simply a gathering of aged, conservative cardinals and Vatican officials, please know that as long as I am in a position to do so, I will work tirelessly to address this crisis."
Some high church officials reportedly pushing for Law's resignation have preferred to remain anonymous.
One unnamed cardinal, for example, told the Los Angeles Times this week that he and some others called to the Vatican were seeking Law's resignation.
A senior American cleric who spoke to the Boston Globe on condition his name and title not be disclosed said there was a "consensus" that Law should ask the pope to accept his resignation.
"There is a great deal of anger that has accrued against Law because the mistakes he made have undercut years of effort by the other cardinals to set standards and involve the laity in ensuring that priest sexual abuse allegations are properly handled."
Another speaking anonymously, a church historian, told the Boston Herald that Law, 70, has created enmity among some archbishops since he was elevated to cardinal in 1985.
"You have seen very few cardinals or bishops running to his defense and that is very telling," the historian said. "Law is a social climber, a careerist. He has done what he has had to do to get ahead. He's created his own little sub-church, running to Rome when he had a problem."
