BOSTON (MA)
TheBostonChannel.com
POSTED: 11:44 am EDT April 7, 2005
UPDATED: 12:48 pm EDT April 7, 2005
BOSTON -- Cardinal Bernard Law has been chosen to lead one of a series of Masses that will be celebrated during the nine days of mourning that begin with Friday's funeral for Pope John Paul II.
Law, who resigned as archbishop of Boston in December 2002 over his role in the clergy sex abuse crisis, now serves as archpriest of the St. Mary Major Basilica -- one of the most important churches in Rome. He remains a member of the College of Cardinals and serves on several Vatican agencies, including the Congregation for Bishops.
Law will be among the group of 116 cardinals who will vote for the next pope at the conclave beginning on April 18.
He was named Thursday by the Vatican as one of nine prelates who will lead daily masses during the mourning period.
Law was Boston's archbishop when the clergy sex abuse scandal erupted there in January 2002. It later spread nationwide to become what church leaders describe as the worst crisis to befall the American church. Hundreds of accused clergy have been removed from parishes around the country in the last three years.
Posted by kshaw at April 7, 2005 12:19 PM